


A Missing Eye and A Bow Tie

by BexTheBoo



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU where Bill's apocalypse was shitty and simple and he was stopped easily, Anxiety, Blood, Canon divergent until and including The Last Mabelcorn, Child Bill, Crushes, Cute Dorks, Cute awkward Dipper, Depression, Dipper and Bill are friends, Dipper falls in love with Bill, Dipper is seduced by his nerdiness, Fear, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Human bill, I just realized I gave Bill my sense of humor, Innocent love, M/M, Mentall Illness, Mild Language, Mutual Support, No underage, Older Dipper Pines, Only a mention though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Some serious shit goes down, Suicide mention, Unfinished, Violence, anxiety inducing scenes, hand holding, he wasn't destroyed though, tense scenes, they're so cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BexTheBoo/pseuds/BexTheBoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After dealing with an underwhelming apocalypse, there are two weeks left of summer vacation before Dipper and Mabel must leave Gravity Falls. It all seems like it will be smooth sailing until a certain triangle makes it his newest project to hang out with Dipper in a new human form. A friendship (and crush) forms, but when tragedy strikes the town, will it be able to stand against it? What will the unpredictable future bring them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Demon Tourist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Re-introductions are made with a certain triangle. His motives are suspicious, of course, but seem innocent enough. Can he be trusted?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this fic a year ago and tapered off on writing it. It currently has 16 chapters, so I'll post those little by little. I lost interest in writing the rest of it, but if this happens to generate fans, then I'll most likely be motivated to write the ending, which I do have an idea for. Most likely this fic will be 20-25 chapters long in the end. I wouldn't post something unfinished but I spent a lot of time and emotion on writing this and it would tear me up inside to get rid of it. I AM pretty proud of what I've accomplished with it so far though.  
> UPDATE:  
> THIS STORY IS UNFINISHED

Dipper was leaving the shack when he was met by an annoyingly familiar voice. 

"Hey Pinetree, wait up!"

Dipper rolled his eyes and turned around, "What do you want, Bill?! You've been following me ever since we stopped your stupid apocalypse!" Dipper demanded of the dream demon. 

"That hurt me, I'll admit, but ever since, I've been studying you humans. You especially," Dipper suddenly felt uncomfortable and blushed, "but look what I can do now!

Bill closed his eye and began to shine. Dipper shielded his eyes with his arms. There was a bright flash and an odd gust of air. He looked up slowly to see that Bill was replaced with a boy who looked to be around his age. He had shaggy blond hair and a slight tan, and wore black shoes with white socks, black shorts, and a yellow t-shirt. The only thing that was noticeably off about him was that he was wearing a black bow tie and his pupils and irises looked to be just a little bit too elongated.

"I look just like one of you flesh bags now! Whoa, my voice is different, I'll have to watch that. This is just like inhabiting a body, but I don't have to trick some idiot into giving me theirs! I can do everything like a person now. Why don't you show me the ropes, Pinetree?" Bill walked forward and wobbled only slightly. "This doesn't feel much different than when I was in you. Hmm, maybe I'm a little taller though," He walked around Dipper in an exaggerated manner with his hands on his hips until he faced him again and blinked one eye at a time, "It's all good except one little thing..."

Before Dipper even cared to ask what that was, Bill's hand flew to one of his eyes, grasping at it. His fingers sunk beneath his eyelids, all while he smiled and stared blankly into the distance with his other hand still on his hip.

Disgusted, Dipper spun around and shouted, "Bill, what are you doing?!" After a few indescribably disgusting noises ended, Dipper cautiously turned around to see that one of Bill's eyes were now missing. 

"Ah, well that's much better," he said, as if he just rubbed an eyelash out.  
"You're crazy!"

He ignored Dipper's remark, "So, why don't you introduce me to everyone? The last time I saw the fine people of Gravity Falls, I was trying to enslave their minds," he chuckled like he remembered a funny joke, "it would be nice to actually get to know them."

He grabbed Dipper's arm and started to pull him along, but Dipper resisted and pulled back, and not just because that hand was plunged beneath his eyelids not even a minute before, "No, Bill. There's only two weeks left of summer and I don't want to spend a single second more of it dealing with you."

"You wound me, Pinetree. You really do. But you're forgetting one thing."

Rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, Dipper asked "And what would that be?"

Suddenly, any kind of innocent playfulness in Bill's affect left "I. Can. Make. You." He got closer to Dipper, who suddenly felt rooted to where he stood, with every word. He never dropped his smile. Dipper knew he felt terrified. He knew of what havoc Bill was capable. He thought he conquered his fear of him when they stopped his apocalypse, but it all came back in that moment. As quickly as he became hostile, Bill snapped out of it. He repeated the motion of grabbing Dipper's arm and pulling him towards town, but Dipper did not resist this time. "Alright, let's go!" Bill said excitedly. 

***

The two walked down the street, on their way to meet Mabel at Greasy's Diner. Dipper slouched and crossed his arms as Bill stood tall and obnoxiously perky as they walked. His smile was huge and he walked with a confident gait. The others on the street may have paused when they saw a boy with a gaping hole where his eye should be, but thought nothing bad when they caught his infectious smile. How could there be anything wrong with such a happy and confident boy? They stood in front of the diner. 

"So, Greasy's Diner, huh? I was going to have my throne room in this spot! You of course were going to build it for me though. Put your weak flesh sticks to use," Dipper moved to open the door but Bill shot his hand out, blocking his way and nearly clotheslining him, "Whoa, Pinetree, what is that?!" He asked as he stared at a pie on the windowsill. 

"That's a pie, Bill," Dipper flatly stated.

"It smells... wonderful. This is what I missed not having a nose?"

He dropped his arm and Dipper opened the door. The bell jingled as they walked in and they went to the back booth where Mabel sat drinking chocolate milk. Bill slid into the booth across from her and Dipper followed. 

"Dipper! You didn't say you were bringing your friend!"

Dipper could see the hearts in her eyes as if they were a cartoon. He rolled his as he said, "Mabel, this is Bill."

"Why, hello, Bill. I'm Mabel," she said as she put her head in her hands and stared dreamily in his direction. 

Bill was messing around with the napkin dispenser as he mindlessly said, "Hey there, Shooting Star."

She giggled, blushed, and played with her hair as if he paid her the greatest compliment, "Oh, Bill, I know this is sudden, but would you marry me?"

"Mabel! Can I speak to you?!" Dipper asked harshly as he jumped from his seat. Begrudgingly, Mabel followed and they stood closer to the counter. 

"Dipper!" Mabel gushed, turning around to sneak a peek at Bill, "You didn't say you had a friend! Hubbah hubbah, where did you find him?! Is he the president of Hot Guys Town?!"

"Mabel,” Dipper said as he smacked himself in the face with his hands, “That's Bill. You know, the evil triangle who tried to enslave all of our minds a few weeks ago?!" They glanced over to the booth where Bill was eating sugar packets. 

"What?!” Mabel whined as she realized her newest crush was far from attainable, “When did he become so... not a triangle?"

"It's some new trick he learned and now he's forcing me to drag him around town!" Dipper hastily explained.

"Pinetree! These appetizers are great, we gotta order more!" Bill shouted when he couldn't find any more packets at their booth. 

Dipper and Mabel exchanged glances and returned to their seats. 

"Those are sugar packets, Bill. They're for your coffee," Dipper clarified dully.  
"What's a coffee?"

"So, Bill!" Mabel interrupted, "On the account of you being an evil triangle and all, I'm going to retract my marriage offer,” Mabel said cautiously and giggled nervously, “... No offense."

"You're not my type anyways, toots," Bill said as he piled up the empty packets, "We gotta order some of that pie. Taste buds are great!" He tore open a small container of coffee creamer and dumped it into his mouth, "Have you ever tried this stuff?" He asked as he tore open more and more. Dipper and Mabel could only watch as he excitedly made a mess. 

Lazy Susan came over to take their order. "What'll be?" she asked. 

"We want all the pie you have!" Bill shouted, "And I want a 'coffee' and... Bring as many of these as you can!" He held up the sugar and coffee creamer remnants. 

"Alright, then!" She said, not seeing a problem with anything. 

Bill finished his last coffee creamer. "Do you want to know how many times you've blinked since I first came in?" He asked both Dipper and Mabel. 

"No, Bill. We want to know what you want," Dipper demanded. 

"You just heard me order, Pinetree. All those useless thoughts of dreams you'll never achieve too loud in your head? I can help with that," he stared at them with a smile and slowly blinked. The eyelid over the hole tried to blink as well but just twitched. They stared and Mabel was speechless for once.

"No, Bill," Dipper said slightly exasperated, "You know what we mean. What are you playing at? What's the point of all this?"

"I told you, I want you to show me the ropes of being a person. This world is so deluxe! They have two flavors of pie here and there's so many smells..."

"Bill, I'm just letting you know now that we don't believe you," Dipper said bluntly. 

"Even if you're incredibly hot!" Mabel added. 

"Exactly. Wait, what? No I-"

"Here's your pie! Just wave me over when you want more. And sir, he's your coffee," Lazy Susan poured Bill his coffee. 

"You know I can fix your eye," he told her. 

"Really?" She asked. 

"Yeah… You just have to sell me your soul."

There was a moment of silence and then the two laughed heartily, "How cute!" She said and walked away. 

"But really!" He called after her and then turned to Dipper and Mabel, "I don't think she believes me."

"Well you're a thirteen year old boy and not an evil triangle. I don't think you look very credible," Dipper said as he picked at his pie. 

"Oh don't worry, I'll always be an evil triangle," he said as he took a bite of his pie. Obviously, he liked it as he voraciously ate the rest of it. He excitedly took a sip of coffee, hoping it would be just as good, but it barely passed his lips before he spit it out, “Oh my pain! That’s hot! Pain is not hilarious when it happens to your own body!” 

"Bill, you ripped out your own eye and you're shouting about some coffee?" Dipper sassed. 

"How could food betray me like this?” Bill asked, despaired and concerned, “Does this happen often?"

"You're human, Bill. You're going to be betrayed by a lot of things. Food is just the tip of the iceberg."

"I don't like this anymore," Bill stated and crawled up and around the table, stepping in Dipper’s pie in the process, while stuffing some sugar packets into his pockets. "Time to leave," he grabbed Dipper's arm and begun to drag him outside. 

"Hey!" Mabel yelled through a mouthful of pie, "You said you were gonna pay!"

"I'm sorry, I-" Dipper tried to say before he Bill jerked his arm, and consequently the rest of his body, through the door.

"Why don't the hot guys ever like me?" she mumbled into her pie as she slouched down and put her head in her hands.

Bill pulled Dipper down the sidewalk, chuckling, “Boy, those arms really aren’t as durable as I thought, Pinetree.”

“Hey, let go!” Dipper demanded as he jerked his arm from Bill’s grasp and rubbed the slowly appearing red mark absentmindedly. His grip was stronger than it seemed it should be, as he looked no older than Dipper.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Bill asked inquisitively as he turned around to meet his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Dipper challenged, “What’s wrong? What do you think is wrong?” he asked rhetorically, and when Bill didn’t answer, he continued, “Where are you taking me? What do you really want from me?”

“I’ve told you already, come on. We’re wasting time,” he went to grab Dipper’s arm again but he moved backwards and out of his reach. “Do you always have to be so difficult?!” he demanded, suddenly getting angry. Dipper took a cautious step backwards and glanced behind him, looking for an escape route. He could’ve sworn that Bill’s eye turned a shade of red. Then suddenly, he calmed down again and sighed, “Look, I already told you, I just want to see all the things that I never had the time to see before.”

Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose, “Bill, you’re an omnipotent demon that has the ability to traverse multiple dimensions, and you want me to believe that you just want to be some innocent tourist in Gravity Falls?”

“Sure, it’s something along those lines. I know of everything, past, present, and future, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced it all,” Bill stopped to glance at Dipper who had his arms crossed and was begrudgingly hearing him out. He continued, “What makes you want to go somewhere? You know what it looks like already, but something makes you want to physically be there. You want the experience. Now that I have an eternity of free time, as you shattered my dreams of an apocalypse, I want to do something with it.” Dipper seemed to have softened, although he didn’t look completely convinced, “I know what’s hiding in every inch of this town, Pinetree, things that old Fordsy has never even come close to seeing. I know where they're hiding and all their weaknesses.” Dipper had his eyebrows raised. A part of him knew he shouldn’t trust Bill, but the part that wanted answers for all his questions about Gravity Falls seemed to be growing stronger as he listened, “There’s a great amount of adventure hiding out there and it’s a shame that you don’t want to go with me, but, hey, if you don’t trust me…” Bill turned on his heel and started to walk away.

Dipper bit his lip as he mulled over the proposal, and watching Bill walk away was killing him. He tried to think about it, but he couldn’t miss his chance. “Hey, wait!” he shouted. 

Bill stopped and turned around, “You’re coming with me?”

Dipper knew the games that Bill played. If anything became dangerous, he could back out. He wouldn’t fall for his tricks again. He could trust himself to be smarter. “Yeah…” he said and smiled slightly. Bill walked back to where he previously stood. “Yeah, I’ll go with you.”

“Good. A little companionship for all the secrets of Gravity Falls. Do we have a deal?” Bill stuck out his hand. Dipper’s small smile fell and he glared at his hand. Bill looked down and started to chuckle, “Whoa, old habits die hard, don’t they?” He withdrew his arm, turned around, and began to walk. 

Dipper followed close behind him, trying to hide his excitement, “Where are we going?”

Bill shrugged, “Do you want to see the real Gobblewonker? A den of squash with human faces and emotions?” he squinted his eye and tapped his chin in thought, “If we’re going to the mountains we need to get there by sunset. The lake nymphs are only out during the full moon... and the fairies are usually only out when they're eating morning dew…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	2. The Demon Tour Guide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill is more fun to hang out with than anyone ever expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but too long to be grouped with the first chapter.

Two boys approached the shack, its windows illuminated from the lights within. Based on the moon’s position, it was probably around six or seven. The two laughed as they stood near the porch steps. Dipper was covered in small cuts and bruises, twigs and leaves knotted in his hair, with dirt and mud smeared here and there on his body, clothes, and hat.

“And then…” Dipper tried to say through his laughter, “when that vine came down…” he sat down on the stairs and held his stomach as he tried to contain his laughter, “Wow, that was great,” he concluded, getting out a few more laughs before beaming. 

Bill stood a few feet from him, the barrier around the shack keeping him from coming any closer, “I’m just surprised you weren’t eaten alive, Pinetree.”

“I know!” Dipper jumped up, “It was so mad!” he chuckled, “I can’t even wait for tomorrow. What are we doing?”

Bill shrugged, “Whatever you want. I have all the time in the world.”

Dipper glanced at the door behind him and gestured to it, “Well I’d better get inside, they're probably worried about me.”

“See you around, Pinetree.”

Dipper put his hand on the doorknob and turned around to add something, but Bill was already gone. Shrugging, he opened the door and walked into the shack. “Hey, guys! I’m ho-” he called before Mabel suddenly knocked him down.

“Dipper!” she yelled, “Are you okay?! What happened to your face?!” she got up on the armchair and looked out the window, “What did that evil triangle do to you?”

“Well, technically he’s not really a triangle anymore…” Dipper began as he stood up.

“Dipper!” Mabel shouted as she jumped down from the chair, “Are you okay?” she repeated.

“Dipper,” a deep voice sounded. He looked up to see Stan and Ford enter the room. “Mabel told us that Bill had you. Are you okay? What happened?” Ford asked.

“No, hey, guys, I’m totally fine,” Dipper tried to clarify.

“But what happened to your face? Dipper, you’re bleeding! I’ll grab the band aids,” Mabel announced as she ran upstairs to the bathroom, her blinking sneakers lighting the way.

“Kid, are you sure you’re alright?” Stan asked as he watched Dipper pick the twigs and leaves out of his hair.

“No, no, really, I’m fine,” he said as he chuckled, trying to put them at ease.

Ford kneeled down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder, “Dipper, can you explain what happened?”

Mabel came down the stairs with the first aid kit and started to clean and patch up the scratches and cuts on his arms and face while he told his story. Dipper tried to calm everyone down by explaining the day’s events in a lighthearted tone. When he explained how Bill changed into a human form, Ford’s eyebrows went up and then scrunched together as he thought. He tried to reiterate Bill’s spiel about wanting to experience the world and then went into details about the adventures that they went on that day, making sure to emphasize how the scrapes and bruises were no big deal. Many times throughout the story Dipper had to contain his laughter, and a few times he failed to do so. At the end he looked at everyone’s mostly confused faces.

Mabel was the first to speak, “You can’t just trust him because he’s hot, Dipper!” she lectured as she shook him by his shoulders.

“What? Mabel, no. That’s not why-”

“I agree with her, Dipper, albeit for different reasons, you can’t trust Bill,” Ford stated.

“I knew you were going to say that, Grunkle Ford, but look, he hasn’t tried to make an actual deal with me once. I’m being really careful. We know the games he tries to play and I’m watching out and making sure that I don’t fall for anything like I did before.”

Ford sighed, “Dipper I wish I could believe that, but Bill is manipulative. I can’t, with a clear conscience, let you be with him without at least warning you. Promise me that you’ll break this off if he tries to get you to do something you’re not comfortable with.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Dipper waved his hands in front of his face, “Okay, you’re making this sound really weird.”

“Dipper, please promise me. I want to trust that you know right from wrong.”

“Of course, Grunkle Ford. I promise. You can trust me. You know that,” Dipper said with a smile.

Returning the smile, Ford said, “Good,” he stood up and looked at Dipper and Mabel softly, “Goodnight, you two.”

“Goodnight, Grunkle Ford,” Dipper and Mabel chimed in unison as he left the living room.

“Alright, kids, it’s time for bed,” Stan stated.

“Awe, but Grunkle Stan, there’s a Ducktective marathon on tonight!” Mabel complained as she threw her arms up.

“Not tonight, okay sweetie?” he asked with a surprising softness. 

“Alright…” Mabel sighed as she went upstairs to change.

Dipper went to follow her, but Stan caught his arm, “Hey, Dipper, be careful alright? I don’t think Mabel could stand it if something happened to her brother.”

“Yeah, of course, Stan,” Dipper said, surprised by his words.

“Good. Now go take a shower, kid, you smell awful!” he barked.

Rolling his eyes, Dipper went upstairs. When he made it to the bathroom, he checked his clothes, finding them dirtier than he expected, and looked at himself in the mirror. He had more than a few band aids on his arms and face and could tell that he looked worse than he actually felt. In all reality, the cuts just stung a little, but he was touched that everyone cared about him so much to make it seem like a big deal. He threw his clothes into the hamper and jumped into the shower, where he got a few more leaves out of his hair and made sure to keep the band aids from falling off.

When he made it back to their room, Mabel was cuddling with Waddles. He threw his vest, shoes, and hat on the floor next to his bed. He grabbed his journal and sat on his bed as he started to turn through the pages, wondering what he and Bill should do tomorrow, but then realized how quiet Mabel was.

“Hey, Mabel,” he said with a smile, “What did you guys do today?”

She quietly rubbed Waddles’ stomach, “We mostly just waited for you to come home…” she said softly.

“Oh my gosh, Mabel. I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize that everyone was going to be so freaked out. I didn’t mean to make you worry!” he apologized.

Mabel gave a small laugh and looked up from Waddles, “It’s okay, Dipper. We know you didn’t mean to, really,” relieved, Dipper sat back, “So… you and Bill had fun today?”

“He knows so much stuff about Gravity Falls, Mabel!” Dipper gushed, “I’m sure that he has all the answers to anything I could ask!” he paused when he suddenly had an idea, “Mabel, you should come with us tomorrow! You can pick what we do, if you want!” he hopped out his bed and jumped into hers with his journal in his hand. “Here, just pick something you want to see or do! This is great, Mabel. When you realize that Bill doesn’t have some kind of plan in this, we can convince Stan and Ford together so they’ll stop worrying!”

Mabel laughed at Dipper’s enthusiasm, “Okay, Dipper, sure. I’ll go with you guys,” she picked up his journal and started to turn the pages, “So does this journal have anything about hot guys…?”

***

The next day, the twins met up with Bill outside the shack. He was fine with having Mabel tag along with them and with having her pick the adventure. Together, the three combed through the forest in search of fairies and magical ducks, with Mabel trying to smuggle one of the latter home under her sweater; however, it quacked a distress call and they all had to fight off an angry duck mob. They never knew that duck bills could be so sharp, and all three experienced a new feeling of pain. In the end, Bill had to use some kind of telekinesis to throw the ducks into one another and create a distraction great enough that allowed them to get away and run back to the shack. They returned at around five, out of breath from running and slightly traumatized, yet they all collapsed in the grass laughing.

“Dipper…” Mabel said through periods of huffing and puffing, “When that duck bit your ankle…” she took a moment to cough and laugh, “You screamed like a girl… I was terrified but… it was hilarious,” she emphasized.

“Thanks, Mabel,” Dipper said sarcastically, but with a smile, “But, Bill, who knew you had those telekinesis abilities. Man, that was so cool. You totally saved us,” Dipper said in awe.

“No, but, Shooting Star, when your sweater started quacking…” Bill took a moment to laugh, “I wasn’t sure if that was real or if these dumb human ears were malfunctioning.”

All three laughed about their day while they stared up in the clouds and caught their breath. They were exhausted, hungry, and sure they would have nightmares, but they considered the day to be a success. Dipper started to consider writing his own journal about all the new things that Bill would eventually show him and was excited about the future.

“Kids,” Stan called as he walked out of the shack, “We’re going to the diner tonight.” Dipper and Mabel sat up, dirty and cut up, “Yeesh, what happened to you two?”

Bill sat up and Stan turns his attention towards him, “Stanley Pines,” Bill acknowledged. 

Stan narrowed his eyes, “Bill.”

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel jumped up, “Can we take Bill with us to the diner?!”

“Ah… I don’t know, Mabel…” he trailed off, hesitant after glancing at Bill.

“Ah! Please, Grunkle Stan! Please, please, please, please!” Mabel begged as she jumped up and down and dramatically fell to her knees, “We told him that we would get him more pie!”

Not wanting to disappoint her, Stan reluctantly agreed, “Alright, sweetie. Fine. He can come,” both Dipper and Mabel cheered, “But you guys need to go get cleaned up. You’re filthy, and not even an amount that’s acceptable in this town.” The two ran inside to clean themselves up and left Bill alone with Stan. He narrowed his eyes once more at the boy, “Don’t think that just because you look like a kid, I won’t stop you if you hurt my niece or nephew.”

Bill shrugged innocently, “Stanley, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

They spent an awkward few minutes alone outside, but because Bill was new to being human, it was likely that he could hardly perceive such a feeling. The twins came back soon after, and they went to the diner together. Stan and Mabel sat on one side of the booth while Bill and Dipper sat on the other. Bill got to try the other available flavor of pie, forwent the hot coffee, and spent his time talking to Dipper about the next day’s adventure. Mabel tried to talk to Stan about their day, but could hardly explain through her laughter.

As Dipper talked with Bill, even though it was only their second day hanging out with one another, he could tell that Bill as a human was different than his demon form, and he liked it so much better. He could tell that he had the makings of a good friend. He honestly wasn’t sure if he completely believed Bill’s story, but he saw no harm in playing along. He was having fun with him, and that’s all the mattered. He was still alert, as he promised Ford, but he couldn’t see a problem with what they were doing. Dipper looked forwards to the next week and a half.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	3. It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ugh… Bill. Why did he have to blush like that when he fell on top of him? The only other time he blushed that deeply was… when he accidentally laid on Wendy’s bra. And when he held out his hand? Why did he have to hesitate? Why did he give himself time to psych himself out? It’s probably the only reason he felt like he did when they touched again. It was all in his head, he was sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself, you dork, as it begins today.

A week ago, Bill approached Dipper and morphed into a human form, then tried to drag him on adventures. In the time past, the two discovered the secrets of Pitt Cola, the true motives of Tad Strange (and sent him packing), and accidentally shattered the illegal butterfly trafficking ring among the gnomes, which Jeff was grateful for, and he called a truce between the Pines’ and the gnomes. On this day, the two had finished terrorizing the cherubs that appear at high noon in the glade in the middle of the enchanted part of the forest. They didn’t intend on terrorizing them, but when those chubby babies attacked first, it really became self-defense. Leaning against a tall tree, they caught their breath and laughed. 

“I didn’t know those tiny wings could fly so fast!” Dipper snickered.

“I didn’t know those fat little arms could throw stones so quickly, and I’m an omnipotent being!” Bill stated between laughs.

“Is it just me, or did that one totally look like Gideon?”

They slid down the tree to sit next to each other. Catching his breath, Dipper drew in the dirt with a stick, making lines and squiggles. Bill followed suit, but the things he made were eerily intricate and detailed, up until he just started making triangles; nothing wrong with self-portraits. Dipper began to wonder if Bill missed being a triangle, although he couldn’t completely imagine why he would. 

After a few minutes, Dipper stood up and stretched, “I’ve run around so much this summer that I should join track once school starts next week,” he joked before he sat back down.

“What’s that like in this century? ‘School?’” Bill asked.

“I’d rather stay here, but I guess it’s not too bad. Mabel’s the one with all the friends, but I get good grades, so I guess it could be worse. Besides, Mabel’s really the only friend I ever needed,” Dipper explained with a smile.

“You and Shooting Star are pretty close,” Bill noted.

“Well, yeah. She’s my twin. That’s about as close as you can get with someone. We were the same person at one point in our lives,” Dipper elaborated before he stood up again, “Well, if we’re going to do anything else today, we’d better get moving. Do you know where we are?”

Bill stood up, “‘Do you know where we are?’ Of course I know where we are, Pinetree,” Bill mocked sarcastically as he spun around, looking at their surroundings, “Of course… I know…” he looked around for a few minutes, spinning on heel, silent.

“Bill?” Dipper asked.

“Uh… Pinetree, remember when I said that I know where we are…?”

“Yeah?”

“I lied. I have no idea.”

“Bill!” Dipper shouted, his voice very slightly cracking, as he spun to look around, “What do you mean?! You always know!”

“I’ve never seen this part of the forest!” he explained, “Come to think of it… I’ve never seen these kinds of trees either,” he touched the bark of one of the tall trees, confused.

“What do we do?” Dipper started to panic, and breathe heavier, “It’s probably around one right now, right? We have a few hours to get back before they start to worry about us… Okay, so if we came from this way… no wait, or did we come from over here…”

“Calm down, Pinetree. The shack is in the west. If I can see the sun, I can navigate us back,” Bill said calmly.

“Bill, these trees are too tall. How are you going to see the sun?” Dipper complained.

Suddenly, Bill grabbed Dipper’s shoulders and pushed him down on his knees, “Just give me a boost,” he said as he hopped up on Dipper’s back and used him to get up on a tree branch.

“Ow! Bill, what the heck?!” Dipper called from his place on the ground, but once he realized what he was doing, he got nervous, “Bill, what are you doing? You’re going to fall! You’re going to get yourself killed… if that’s even possible… I don’t really know how you work… but it’s still a stupid idea! And why aren’t you just using your powers in some way to get up there?!”

“Relax, Pinetree. I’ll be fine. And these trees cancel out magic, by the way. It’s a good thing to jot down in your journal. They're magic in the way that they block magic; an oxymoron, but all dimensions have contradictions to ‘em.”

Dipper was suddenly embarrassed, “You know that I started my own journal?”

Bill jumped up a branch and swung around, “It’s not that easy a thing to hide under your vest, Pinetree.”

Bill made impressive time up the tree, which was surprising. Once at the top, he disappeared in the leaves. Dipper nervously watched from below. He knew it was stupid to be so nervous, but he was worried for him. Eventually, his form reappeared as he shimmied his way down the branches. 

“The sun is to the left,” he said, dropping down to a branch, “And if it’s around a little past one, that means that’s the west,” he leaped over a gap and grabbed the next branch with only his hands, “So we just need to go in that direction, and you’ll be home in no time,” he swung around to the next low branch, but a horrible scraping echoed through the forest when Bill’s shoe slid off the branch and he slowly fell backwards from the tree.

“Bill!” Dipper shouted and ran forwards, almost unaware of his actions, as if they were instinctual.

He tried to grab on to any branch he could reach, but they only managed to slow him down in small amounts. In a flurry of motion, Bill landed directly on top of Dipper and they fell to the ground. Dipper smacked his head on the ground and felt dizzy for a moment, but nothing else felt wrong…except, of course, the weight on top of him. Bill groaned slightly in pain and disorientation, said some words in a language that Dipper has never heard before, and then propped himself up on his arms.

“Hey, are you okay, Pinetree?” he asked, sounding groggy.

Dipper opened his eyes to find Bill just inches away from his face, lying directly on top of his body. He could feel the warmth spreading across his cheeks, but it didn’t stop there, and he was sure his entire face turned bright red in a matter of seconds. He was trapped beneath him. They were around the same weight, sure, but all the breath and energy was knocked out of him when he hit the ground, and so he was left gasping underneath Bill’s body.

“Pinetree?” he asked again, not understanding their extremely awkward position.

“Get… off…” Dipper managed to gasp.

Finally noticing how they landed, Bill rolled off of Dipper, who in return rolled onto his side and curled up for a moment, finally able to breathe. He groaned and coughed, all while hoping that the redness in his face faded before Bill could understand what truly had caused it. 

“Ugh,” he groaned, “I think you kneed me in the stomach… I told you it was a stupid idea!” Dipper strained to say, “Maybe if you had another eye you could’ve watched where you were going.”

“Hey, calm down, we’re both alive and now I know which way to go, so let’s call this a victory,” Bill stated as he bent down and held his hand out to Dipper, having recovered from him breaking his fall.

Dipper looked at his hand for a moment before taking it and being helped up, “Fine, whatever, Bill, but just let me make a sketch of these trees before we leave.”

***

They made it back in a little less than an hour, but they were too worn out to continue adventuring on that day, so they parted ways earlier than usual. Dipper took a long, hot shower to try to soothe his sore body. Going out day after day on these monster hunts was taking a toll on his body, but with a week left in summer, he couldn’t afford to miss a single day out there with Bill. 

Ugh… Bill. Why did he have to blush like that when he fell on top of him? The only other time he blushed that deeply was… when he accidentally laid on Wendy’s bra. And when he held out his hand? Why did he have to hesitate? Why did he give himself time to psych himself out? It’s probably the only reason he felt like he did when they touched again. It was all in his head, he was sure.

He went downstairs after he got dressed, hoping to make a late lunch and relax. He walked through the living room on his way, where Stan was watching TV. In the kitchen, he made himself a sandwich and then came back over and sat on the couch to eat it.

“Are you okay, Dipper?” Stan asked, “You look a little… down.”

“Yeah, I’m fine… it’s just that Bill fell out of a tree and landed on top of me,” he stated plainly. It wasn’t a lie. It really was the reason he wasn’t feeling his best. He took a bite of his sandwich.

Stan’s tone slightly became more concerned, “And are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just sore,” he said, once again not lying, “Hey, where’s Mabel?”

“She went out with her friends,” he thought for a moment, “I thought she told you?”

“Yeah, she probably did, I’ve just been really worn out from all this adventuring… my head’s not really in the right place half the time.”

“Well you’d better get better by the time you get home, or your parents will never trust me with you guys again. Not that they should have in the first place, obviously, but still,” he shrugged and Dipper chuckled.

“I just have a bit of a headache. I’m going to take a nap,” Dipper said as he got up and took his plate back to the kitchen. When he walked through the living room again, Stan told him to get better. In his room he kicked off his shoes, shrugged off his vest, put his hat on the end table, crawled up on his bed, and closed his eyes. It felt good to finally relax. He hoped that he wasn’t actually hurt and that he just needed to sleep it off. Also, that all this Bill business would just clear itself up. He knew he would eventually get over everything, but he just wasn’t over it at this moment. Lying on his side, he curled up and fell asleep.

***

“Come on, Pinetree!” Bill urged as he grabbed Dipper’s hand. They laughed as Bill pulled him along, walking fast.

“You know I have a name, right?” Dipper teased as he matched Bill’s pace, but did not let go of his hand.

“Yeah, but no one else uses it, so why should I?” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Wait, do you mean my real name? You know my real name?” Dipper asked with an inquisitive smile.

“I’m omnipotent, of course I know your real name, Pinetree,” Bill laughed and teased, “but I doubt that you know mine.”

“Wait, wait,” Dipper asked, slightly surprised yet still smiling, “Are you saying that ‘Bill Cipher’ isn’t your real name?”

“Of course it isn’t, why would a being with my power have such a ridiculous human name like ‘Bill?’” he asked incredulously. 

“I don’t know,” Dipper shrugged and then raised an eyebrow and with a mischievous face he asked, “So what is your real name?”

Bill scoffed, “This weak human tongue wouldn’t be able to pronounce it. Really, it sounds like a mixture of the noises of different animals dying all overlapping one another with a distinct note of a baby’s laughter in the background,” he shrugged as if it was no big deal, “It’s pretty common among dream demons, but I think it fits me pretty well. Written down, it looked close to some of the older languages and was just mistranslated over the millennia until it got to Bill Cipher,” he put on a superior tone, “It’s why your money gets called ‘bills,’” he chuckled, “I’m everywhere.”

Dipper shook his head and rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. They were running up a hill and Bill tugged on Dipper’s hand to urge him to go faster. Oddly, he wasn’t tired or winded by their trek uphill and clamored over rocks and sticks to get to the top. Gradually the scene came into view and Dipper’s breath was finally taken away from the sight. They were on top of the Floating Cliffs, the sun setting over all of Gravity Falls, framing it in yellows, oranges, and red.

“Wow…” Dipper whispered as he slowly moved closer to the edge. He could tell that Bill was studying his face, watching his reactions, and smiling as he did so. 

Their fingers slowly interlaced as they stood on the edge, somehow unafraid of falling, or maybe just uncaring. They stood close, arms and shoulders touching. Bill laid his head on Dipper’s shoulder as they both smiled, “I knew you would like it, Dipper,” he said softly, “Dipper… Dipper… Dipper…”

***

“Dipper…? Dipper. Hey, Dipper!” Mabel whispered as she shook Dipper’s sleeping form. He sat straight up with a tiny shout, heart racing, and turned towards Mabel, who became concerned, “Dipper, are you having nightmares again?”

“Yes. Absolutely. I am,” he said, mind spinning, eyes darting around the room as he took in the reality around them.

“I thought those went away when we stopped Bill? They should be extra gone now that he’s our friend…” Dipper could feel himself starting to blush, “Why is your face getting all red-”

“Mabel, why did you wake me up?” he asked, gently cutting her off, trying to divert attention from himself. He was going to need time to sort that dream out, which he did not presently have.

“Oh,” she giggled, “Dinner is ready, silly face. I made taco noodle pizza.”

“What?” he asked as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes, completely dumbfounded by her new creation.

“You can pick around the glitter if you don’t like it. Also, it comes served with a glass of my finest Mabel Juice! Now with more dinosaurs!” she announced, proud, “Or just some milk, if you're boring like that,” she added with a dismissive wave.

“Mabel, that sounds disgusting,” he chuckled as he gave her a playful shove.

“Come on, you’ll love it!” she proclaimed as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door, “Pizza sauce and soy sauce are such an overlooked combination in cooking, and the sour cream adds the perfect balance…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it amazing that 8 pages actually looks so short.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	4. A Dream? Or Nightmare?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar adventure is interrupted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this before I watched the finale(s) and learned that their birthdays were on the last day of summer vacation, so please excuse this inaccuracy, but hey I did warn of canon divergence.  
> Also, I wrote this before canon Bill was trapped in Gravity Falls due to that weird bubble thing containing his power and I happen to explain that my fic Bill is trapped in Gravity Falls, so I feel pretty proud of myself that I predicted a future and canon event.

Mabel ran out of the shack, arms out like a plane, and hopped down the porch’s stairs with Waddles bounding behind her as she laughed. She ran in a circle around Bill and Dipper, who stood in the grass idly chatting about their ideas for the day. She came up behind them and wrapped her arms around their shoulders and pulled them in for a side hug, “How are my two favorite boys?” she asked. Waddles squealed. “Except for you, Waddles. You know you’ll always be my number one.”

“Shooting Star, last time you ran around like that, you were trying to get me to stop possessing Dipper’s body,” Bill chuckled as she squeezed them tight.

“No time to think about those days, Bill!” she announced, “I have something for you!” she sprinted towards the porch and leaped the stairs in a single bound while Waddles stayed at Bill’s side, sniffing and snorting at his leg. She popped her head inside the shack, and came running out again, jumping the stairs once more, stopping in front of the boys, “So, I noticed how you, much like Dipper, like to wear the same thing every day. It must be a boy thing, I don’t really know. So, I decided that you needed to spice up your wardrobe!” she handed Bill a small box. He took it gently and looked at it in a very perplexing manner. Mabel bounced on her heels and toes and bit her lip while muffling herself prodding, “Open it, come on, open it.”

He slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box. He smiled and held out the gift, letting the box fall to the ground. “Shooting Star, you made me a sweater?” he asked, amused.

“One hundred percent Mabel-made while I was on one hundred percent Mabel Juice!” she gushed excitedly.

“Mabel, are you still on one hundred percent Mabel Juice now?” Dipper asked, amazed by her level of energy.

“Maybe just ninety-nine percent right now, but hey, has the sky always spun around like that?” she asked before she fell to the ground, prompting Waddles to come over and lick her cheek until she giggled and hugged him.

“Wow, I’ve never gotten a gift before… that wasn’t a ritualistic animal sacrifice,” Bill said, unsure of how to feel.

“Maybe that’s why you were such a jerk before! But that sweater is full of pure certified Mabel love and tons of sweat and probably some blood somewhere,” Mabel explained with a smile as she started making angels in the grass.

“Mabel, how come you’ve never made me a sweater before?” Dipper asked with slight confusion in his voice.

“You never asked for one, Dipper!” 

“Well, he didn’t ask for one!” Dipper said, gesturing to Bill, who was inspecting his new sweater.

“Yeah, but we’re not moving away from you for an entire school year,” she clarified the special circumstances sitting up, but fell backwards again to watch the clouds.

“Mabel, are you going to be okay to come adventuring with us?” Dipper asked, concerned for her wellbeing. 

“No can do, Waddles and I are going to hang out with Candy and Grenda!” 

“But, Mabel! It’s our last day!” Dipper complained.

“Well, that’s why I made him a sweater!” Mabel said, gesturing to Bill.

He struggled to put it on at first, but then understood how all the different openings worked. He tugged it on over his head, hair sticking out in every direction. He adjusted the sleeves and straightened it out before running his hands through his hair a little bit and then he made sure his bow tie wasn’t covered. The sweater was yellow, with an eye very reminiscent of Bill’s true form on the front.

“How do I look?” Bill asked as he felt the softness of the sweater.

“Bill!” Mabel squealed, delighted, “You look so cute! Dipper! Tell him how cute he looks!”

Bill actually turned towards Dipper, looking expectant. Dipper crossed his arms and turned his head, trying to hide his blushing face as he tried to say as sarcastically as possible, “Adorable.”

“I know, right!” Mabel giggled as she stood up and brushed herself off, “Okay, I’ll see you two later!” she said as she went running off towards town with Waddles close by at her heels.

The two watched her walk away before Bill turned towards Dipper, “So, Pinetree, I know you had a bit of an idea for today, but why don’t we go to the Floating Cliffs?”

**

The Floating Cliffs. Why did it have to be the Floating Cliffs? Of all the things he could have picked, he decided that they should go to the Floating Cliffs. Dipper didn’t argue with him, as he didn’t really have an actual reason they shouldn’t. What was he supposed to say? “Sorry we can’t go there, I had a dream that we cuddled and watched the sunset together there and I’m still pretty shaken up by it.” ? That would be crazy, he couldn’t tell him about that… but… Dipper suddenly realized something. Bill was a dream demon. What if he was actually in that dream? What if he was watching Dipper’s dreams and already knew about it? What if he was taking him to the Floating Cliffs just to mock him or freak him out? 

He glanced over at Bill, who walked along as if nothing changed, oblivious to Dipper’s realization. Maybe he was just being paranoid, as he had a penchant to do so; it seemed that Bill was always the subject of his paranoia. He probably would’ve said something if he knew, right? However, Dipper was painfully aware of how good Bill was at lying… Why should Dipper even care, though? It’s not like he was in control of the dream, he didn’t ask for it to happen. Why should he pretend he remembered it? Even if Bill had something to do with it, which he probably didn’t because Dipper had propensity to have strange dreams, who cared? It was stupid to be so paranoid, Dipper concluded, he was just going to let it go.

“The Floating Cliffs look great at sunset, but you probably wouldn’t get home if we waited that long,” Bill chuckled.

“He totally knows,” Dipper suddenly decided without a moment’s hesitation.

The walk, unlike in his dream, was long and actually pretty difficult, and for what? To stand awkwardly with Bill as he ran those previously thought questions through his mind as he tried to decide the importance of his dream? It was the last day of summer, of course, and he wanted to spend it with his friend, but he still didn’t know, and leaving a mystery like this unsolved would eat at him; however, he knew he had to leave it be.

“How much longer?” asked Dipper, near breathlessness. 

“Eh, probably half an hour; enough time for a dream to fully be crushed and the pulverized dust to be blown away into oblivion,” he clarified. Dipper gave a very confused look. “Oh, sorry, I forgot you don’t use the metric system.”

It was a beautiful day despite the depressing connotations that it was the last day in summer. As he walked, Dipper jotted notes down in his journal about markers on the path to the Floating Cliffs. He knew that Ford made notes about them in one of his journals and even though it wasn’t too difficult a path, he still felt the need to occupy his time in a more productive manner than fretting over Bill. He still stole a few glances over to him though. His demeanor never seemed to change, always looking ahead with a neutral or very slightly amused look on his face. Maybe the novelty of walking hadn’t worn off just yet? Also, he was just fine with all the physical exertion and the slightly uncomfortable heat from the sun, despite wearing his new sweater.

Dipper wiped sweat from his brow, “How are you not dying in that sweater?” he asked.

“Because I’m immortal,” Bill answered simply, turning back to glance at Dipper, who narrowed his eyes. “What? I thought you knew that, Pinetree.”

In enough time for a dream to fully be crushed and the pulverized dust to be blown away into oblivion, the two boys finally arrived at the cliffs. It wasn’t sunset, but the view of Gravity Falls was breathtaking nonetheless. Dipper, who almost literally had his breath taken away, but from the hike and not the view, plopped himself on the ground, much like Mabel did an hour before.

“I’m never moving again,” he huffed from his place on the ground. He heard Bill chuckle and the crunch of dirt under his shoes as he approached. Dipper opened his eyes to see an upside-down view of Bill as he looked down at where he was laying.

He held out his hand, “Come on, I’ve got something to show you,” he said.

Almost on instinct and without even thinking about his dream, Dipper took Bill’s hand and allowed him to help him up; however, he soon realized what had happened and made sure to let go of him after he was on his feet. They walked closer to the edge, but not to the point where it was completely dangerous.

“So you see that tree waaaay out there?” Bill asked, pointing near the horizon. Dipper saw he was pointing to a tall and actually suspicious looking tree. He nodded and Bill continued, “And there’s that one parallel to it over there,” he turned to the right and pointed to a tree that looked about the same and Dipper nodded again. “And theeen,” Bill turned about one hundred eighty degrees behind them to point to a tree on the opposite horizon, “There’s that one there?”

“Um, yeah?” Dipper said, unsure of what he was trying to show him.

“Well they form this triangle and them they form a barrier around Gravity Falls that keep me from leaving in my physical form.”

“Wait, what?” Dipper asked, extremely confused, “I thought you were an all-powerful, immortal, indestructible, ‘being of pure energy with no weakness.’ I mean sure, we stopped you and your apocalypse, but something like this seems…”

“I can still hop dimensions, realms, and mindscapes, but I can’t physically leave. It’s why there’s so much weird stuff in this town. They’re all attracted to my power. It’s also why I’m great to adventure with, considering how I lure everything out of hiding.”

Dipper was about to say something excitedly based on the smile on his face, probably about how amazed he was that he finally understood Gravity Fall’s high concentration of weird, but suddenly from behind them came a voice, deep and gravelly yet somehow full of mucus.

“Cipher,” it snarled.

The two turned around in unison. Confused, Dipper looked back and forth between both the creature and Bill, unsure of what to do or how to react. Bill’s face hardened upon seeing the monster, but then suddenly softened again in a mischievous way.

“What’s something like you doing in a place like this?” he said lightly, almost friendly, “I thought you liked your dark caves instead of this open forest.”

“You picked a bad time to corner yourself,” the monster threatened. It stood on all fours, with the likeness of bear, but twice the size, and mixed with a pig or hog, as seen in its tusks, ears, and snout. “What are you doing out here?” it looked him over, “And in such a weak disguise. I thought you were something to be feared.” It lowered its head and sneered.

Dipper, who stood behind Bill, slowly moved to be beside him, “Bi-” he started to ask, until Bill cut him off.

Through hardly moving lips, Bill harshly whispered, “Get ready to run.”

Dipper stood terrified and Bill walked forwards, arms open and smiling, with his voice light, “Well what’s this about? Why don’t we just calm down…”

The monster charged forwards. As if it was nothing, Bill caught the tusks and held it back, being pushed slightly back in the process yet standing firm. Dipper ran horizontally, intent on having a wide arc around the two fighting in order to stay out of the way. It looked wrong, a small kid standing strong against a raging beast. They glared at one another as they tried to push the other back. Suddenly, the monster started to thrash its head, trying to break free from Bill’s surprisingly strong grip. Through all the force that was being transferred back and forth, this action caused the monster to twist and be flung sideways… directly into Dipper’s path.

He was close to getting away, but the monster rolled straight onto of him as they neared the edge of the cliff. They slid and came to a stop beside the edge. Dipper wasn’t hurt, but he was pinned underneath the monster. Despite having the breath knocked out of him, he could still smell the monster’s rank fur.

“Pinetree!” Bill shouted, concerned.

Dipper could hear his footsteps approaching as he tried to get out from underneath the monster. He tried to pull himself out and push the beast off of him, but it wasn’t working, and just when Bill sounded close, Dipper suddenly felt all of the monster’s muscles tense and it slowly stood up. Dipper was relieved to free, but he was in the new predicament of being beside the monster. Dipper caught Bill’s eyes just before he was charged and skidded off the side of the cliff.

“Pinetr-” he heard Bill yell in shock before it was cut off with a loud crash; probably the monster charging him too.

The bottom of the cliff seemed so far away, especially when Dipper hung by his fingertips on a small ledge. He looked above himself, searching for handholds, but finding none. He doubted he was even strong enough to climb up with only his arms, but he still tried. Upon that failure, he glanced down, looking for footholds, but only getting a shot of pure fear through his body. Absolutely terrified, he let out a small yell. 

“Pinetree?!” he heard Bill yell from the top of the cliff.

He probably thought that Dipper died when he first went over the edge. Dipper smiled despite his situation, imagining the look of surprise on his face. A loud thud echoed through the valley as the ground shook. The ledge started to crumble under Dipper’s fingers. He shouted again and felt tears in his eyes. Underneath him, the valley stretched on for miles, a beautiful mouth with teeth made of trees, ready to swallow him as soon as he finally slipped.

He looked side to side, trying to find something, anything, to grab onto to give him more stability; a branch, a root, another larger ledge… anything. He didn’t want to die. He just turned thirteen, but he still felt like he qualified as “too young to die.” Suddenly, the image of Mabel crying as Bill explained to her what happened came into his head. She would probably blame herself, thinking that if she went with them she somehow could have saved him. He couldn’t let that happen to her. He had to live, if for anything, Mabel.

Determination set in that he hoped would help chase away some of the dread that was sapping his strength. After adjusting his hands to have a better grip, he ran his feet along the wall, hoping to find something to help hold his weight. When his foot caught on a tiny ledge, a hopeful energy filled his body, but it was only large enough for some of his toes to rest on. Putting weight on it, he gave his arms temporary relief. Hugging the cliff face, he wished he could grow roots or fly. He ran his other foot along the cliff, careful to not dislodge the other that was holding most of his weight, but still couldn’t find anything. The smallest seed of panic planted itself inside his stomach as he tried and failed different options, and hopelessness began to set in as his strength quickly disappeared.

“Pinetree!” Bill yelled, sounding nearby. Dipper’s heart suddenly began to race as he looked above him. Bill suddenly came into view at the edge of the cliff. “You’re okay!”

“Help me!” Dipper cried, not even caring at how pathetic he sounded at the moment. Bill reached out his hand, but they were too far away for either of them to reach, and Dipper could only stretch so far. He shouted as his toes slipped and a loud angry scraping noise echoed, followed by the sound of falling rocks.

“Pinetree, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Bill tried to reassure while trying to reach his hand out farther. He was covered in dirt and bruises, and Mabel was going to be mad when she found out that his new sweater was ripped.

“Bill… I can’t reach!” Dipper shouted, more pieces of the ledge crumbling. He tried to fight the tears, but they welled up in his eyes.

“You have to jump!” Bill urged. Dipper met his eye, “I can grab you if you just jump up!”

“Are you crazy?!” Dipper shouted, but then yelped as more pieces of the ledge broke away. Hanging by his fingertips, he realized he had no other option. Putting all of his trust in Bill, he put his toes in the smaller ledge, and braced his fingers. With all the energy he had left, he pushed himself upwards.

The feeling of freefall was so strange. It was almost an out of body experience. He felt so light and so heavy at the same time, wind whipping his body. His stomach lurched up his chest and a feeling a pure weightlessness overtook him as he went numb, up until he felt solid ground underneath his back.

“Pinetree?” he heard Bill ask. Dipper wearily opened his eyes to see Bill above him, looking concerned. He glanced around and saw the cliff… but he could’ve sworn that he had fallen. He didn’t remember feeling Bill’s hands catch him. “Are you ok-”

Dipper sat up and hugged him as he let tears stream down his face, not caring of the consequences of his actions, or even if there would be any. In that moment, he was just happy to be alive, and that was the only thing that mattered to him.

“Bill!” Dipper said when he could finally speak again, face buried in his shoulder, “You saved my life!”

Behind him, he could feel as Bill slowly copied his movements and put his arms around him, carefully reciprocating the hug. It’s not like Bill didn’t know what a hug was, but he never experienced one before. Dipper hugged tighter in response, which Bill also copied. He knew that it was probably a completely foreign action to him, but it still meant a lot.

They both gently smiled as they pulled away, until Dipper truly took note of Bill’s state, “Bill, you’re bleeding!” he stated as he pushed back some of his blond hair and studied his face, namely the bloody gash on his forehead. Then he noticed the blood seeping through his sweater. Dipper took Bill’s hand and pushed up his sweater’s sleeve to reveal a deep cut on his forearm. He nervously glanced over Bill’s shoulder at the unmoving body of the weird bear/pig monster and concluded, “Come on, we need to get back to the shack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend made art of the Boar Bear on Tumblr! http://geeky-mcdork.tumblr.com/post/149772373957/based-on-sometimesitcomesdowntothis-s-work-good IT'S SO AMAZING I WANNA CRY!
> 
> Yes, I had to make an OC cryptid for this part, which I personally dislike having to do (if you like that, I don't mean any offense) I promise that the "Boar Bear" isn't totally a reoccurring character in itself, more or less the reason why it was there is why it's important.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	5. New Year, New Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIPPER AND MABEL  
> As a little gift, I present you with the next chapter. I realized that chapter 5 was really short, so I merged it with chapter 6, so technically this is a two in one update, and my total chapter count is down to 15 now.
> 
> Enjoy! And if you haven't seen it yet, a friend made fanart for this fic on Tumblr: http://geeky-mcdork.tumblr.com/post/149772373957/based-on-sometimesitcomesdowntothis-s-work-good
> 
> Regular updating shall commence after today!

“I’ll see you downstairs, Dipper!” Mabel chimed as she rolled her suitcases out their bedroom door.

“Be right there, Mabel!” Dipper said as he finished packing his things.

Dipper looked at his wall of mysteries. It had diminished since he started hanging out with Bill, but there were still a few things he hadn’t gotten around to asking him yet. He decided to leave it there, as something to look forwards to next summer. He took his binoculars and dinosaur tooth off the wall and put them gently in his bag. Then looked under his bed and in the closet for anything he missed. When he sure he didn’t forget anything, he went downstairs.

He and Mabel said their goodbyes to Soos and Wendy, promising to keep in contact with them so the boredom of Gravity Falls wouldn’t drive them insane. Soos planned on going to Portland to visit Melody and meet her family soon, and Wendy had to go back to the drag of high school next week. 

“Well, kids, I never thought we would all survive this long!” Stan chuckled to the twins. He and Mabel hugged while Ford came over to talk to Dipper.

“Dipper, thank you for keeping your promise. I still don’t completely trust Bill, but at least you stayed out of harm’s way.” Dipper decided to not tell him the story of how he almost died yesterday. Sure, Bill saved his life, but if it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have been in the situation in the first place. “Just make me one more promise… don’t tell anyone what you saw here.”

“Of course not, Great Uncle Ford.”

Dipper and Mabel said their goodbyes to friends and family alike, strangely without Bill being present. They all came with them to the bus stop to help with their luggage and see them off. Dipper was slightly disappointed until they arrived, and found Bill waiting for them.

“Bill!” Dipper said excitedly as everyone else behind him helped load their bags onto the bus.

“Hey, Bill!” Mabel said when she noticed him, “You’re lucky I was able to fix that tear!” she said, gesturing to the repaired tear in his sweater.

“Thanks, Shooting Star,” Bill said, if not on the very slightly sarcastic side.

“We’ll see you next year! Don’t start another apocalypse while we’re gone!” she joked and laughed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Bill proclaimed. Smiling, Mabel went over to talk to Candy and Grenda, leaving Dipper and Bill alone. “You didn’t think I’d just let you leave without saying goodbye, did you?”

Dipper laughed, “I guess not. Hey, thanks for not being a jerk anymore.”

“It’s this stupid human body. It makes me feel things, emotionally and physically,” he gestured to his arm that was covered in a big bandage. His forehead also had one keeping his wound clean. 

“So…. Do you know what that thing wanted yesterday?” Dipper asked quietly about the bear/pig monster.

“Well, when you’re the ruler of the entire town, anything will come to manipulate you in your time of failure; however, it forgot the true extent of my power. Shouldn’t be a problem anymore,” he proclaimed confidently. 

“What are you going to do while we’re gone?” Dipper asked, truly curious of his future plans.

“Probably a lot of damage control. The idiot yesterday won’t be the only brave soul out to get me,” he thought for a moment, “Maybe a little bit of dimension hopping. I may not be trying to start another apocalypse, but I’m still a demon. People still call on me with jobs to do. ”

Dipper rolled his eyes, “Bill, no more tricking innocent people.” 

Bill also rolled his eyes, but smiled, “Fine, Pinetree, so long as you promise to stop being such a buzzkill.”

“Hey, kid, it’s time to go!” Stan shouted over to Dipper. 

He turned to nod, but then looked back to Bill, “Well, I guess this is it,” Dipper said sadly.

“Hey, Pinetree, this may be goodbye…” Bill smiled, and it was possible that he winked, but considering how he only had one eye, it was uncertain, “But I’ll be seeing you in your dreeeeeams.”

With that and a few theatrics, Bill suddenly disappeared, leaving Dipper softly smiling where he stood. He turned around and walked towards the bus, Mabel hanging out of the window and telling him to hurry because she couldn’t wait to tell their mom and dad about their adventures. As they turned and drove away, he watched his friends and family waving as they left. He smiled to himself. He had an amazing summer, provided by the amazing people whom he loved, and he would never forget it.

***

There was a certain grace to death. The world stood motionless as he plunged to his death. He couldn’t forget the look on his face when their hands fell short of meeting one another. Then his stomach lurched and an icy shot of realization went through his body, as if he just missed a step on a staircase, but it never went away as the cold wind blew past him, doing nothing to slow his fall. He watched the sky get farther and farther away as he could feel the hands of the ground reaching forwards to grab him. He didn’t scream, numb from shock, and watched himself from a third person point of view plummet to his death. Only when he turned to face the ground and saw it rushing towards him did he make any sound.

He felt abrupt pain in his arm, but the feeling of movement stopped. He looked up, confused, to find that he had caught him. His hands were around his wrist as they both hung close to the edge.

“It’s okay, I got you,” he said gently. Then they were then on solid ground together. His heart was still racing from his fear when they met eyes. “You’re lucky I got here when I did or the impact would’ve woken you up.”

There was suddenly an odd clarity and familiarity to the scene. His mind was suddenly clearer and he could make sense of his surroundings. He realized something…

“Bill?” Dipper asked.

“You have some dark dreams, Pinetree,” he stated plainly.

“Whoa, wait. Are we in my dreamscape?” Dipper asked in awe. He stood up and pushed himself off the ground, floating slightly above it.

“Why is it always flying?” Bill asked, cynically, “Every dream I’ve been in has had flying in it at some point. Where’s the originality?”

“You know, you’re a lot more of a jerk than before,” Dipper noted from his place in the sky that he conjured up.

“I’m in a more pure form here. A lot less to stifle my sparkling personality, lucky for you,” he retorted sarcastically and possibly with a wink, but once again, he only had one eye so it was hard to determine.

Dipper could notice that he was different in the way he was a lot like his old self; however, not to the point in which he feared for his life or state of mind. At least, he hoped that it wouldn’t get to that point, considering how he had no way of waking himself up until his alarm went off in the morning. But he trusted Bill, and if he wanted something, he probably would’ve started working for it already, and Dipper saw nothing he could gain from being his friend.

“So,” Bill began as he conjured up a cane and leaned against it. It looked strange, but Bill made a strange kid in general with his missing eye and bow tie, “What is it? Eighth grade?”

“Yeah!” Dipper said excitedly, “I can’t wait; it’s going to be so much fun! I mean, probably not as fun as this summer, but still!”

“Time for trigonometry, right?” Bill asked, raising his eyebrow and spinning his cane around in his hand, “You know that’s all about the angles and sides of triangles.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, Bill, I know that,” but when he looked back at him, he had a huge smile on his face, like the idea was thoroughly entertaining for some reason, so Dipper couldn’t help but laugh, “Maybe you can help with it, since you’re obviously an expert. What were you, scalene?”

Highly offended, Bill corrected, “I was equilateral!” Dipper laughed harder, not realizing how insulted he would be, “And technically I was also isosceles, with three acute angles! Don’t you forget that, Pinetree!”

Unable to concentrate on flying due to his laughter, Dipper had to come back down to the ground, where he proceeded to roll around, trying to control himself. After a minute, he could finally breathe and he wiped tears from his eyes. He looked up when Bill stood over him and tapped his head with his shoe. “It’s not funny,” he stated, trying to hide his smile.

“Sorry, sorry,” Dipper said through some leftover laughter, obviously not with sincerity. 

“This is twenty times better than lucid dreaming, and you’re wasting it by insulting me,” Bill lectured, “You’ve been sleeping for…” he checked a watch that didn’t actually exist, “Two hours.”

“What?” Dipper sat up, “It’s been like ten minutes!” 

“Time’s different in the mindscape, there, Pinetree,” Bill explained in a kind of smug and all-knowing tone and then shrugged, “You can literally do anything you could ever imagine. Think of it like the very last half hour of the summer…” he spread his arms wide, “What are you going to do to wrap it all up?”

Dipper smiled and got on feet, tapping on his chin as he thought, “Hmm… anything I could ever imagine…”

   
***

The dreamscaping was pretty consistent for the first few months. Every other night Bill and Dipper would talk and mess around in his mind while he slept. They had countless nonsensical adventures together all while discussing his day, whether good or bad. A few times, Dipper actually used the time to study, and considering how he had an omnipotent being with him, it worked out pretty well. Plus, he had an infinite supply of pens to chew on while he was deep in thought. Bill was oddly enough an easy person to talk to, which Dipper appreciated; sure, he had Mabel, but she was so energetic and optimistic, that she didn’t always understand his problems, and, once again, Bill was a supernatural being and he had ways of putting things into perspective.

Then, after those few months, the dreamscaping was happening on more random intervals; maybe twice a week, or maybe only once. Dipper tried to ask Bill about why he was being so flaky and his response was always along the lines of, “Hopping dimensions, making deals, demon business.” Dipper could somehow tell he was lying and didn’t really believe it, but eventually stopped asking.

It was disappointing. He was Dipper’s best friend, and, as Dipper suddenly realized, his only friend other than Mabel. He just never saw a need to make friends with anyone else, and halfway through the schoolyear, he found himself lonely. He sat with Mabel and her friends at lunch, but he didn’t even know if they liked him, considering how he was usually reading at lunch. No one had ever approached in a way that would convey that they wanted to be friends with him. Honestly, the teachers were the nicest to him out of everyone, but there was no way he was making friends with one of them. The time to join clubs was over, so he couldn’t try to find someone there. He was out of options, and didn’t really know what to do.

Eventually, the dreamscaping dropped to maybe three times a month and then down to only once, and finally, as he feared, Bill just completely stopped talking to him. It hurt, he was his best friend, and he just completely abandoned him. He started to regret ever becoming friends with him. He hoped it wouldn’t ever come to that point, but he couldn’t help being remorseful when he structured his year around someone he knew was untrustworthy. Although he passed with some of the highest grades in the school, he couldn’t help but to be cynical about how some of his success should be attributed to Bill’s help. He made a pledge to try to make new friends in high school next year. 

For now, it was time to return to Gravity Falls for the summer. Their parents were surprised by how much they loved their trip last year, and were happy to allow them to go back again. Mabel was bouncing off the walls the night before, excited to see everyone again. Dipper was too, of course, but a part of him wondered how he would react to seeing Bill again. He decided to not let it get to him, and to look forward to uncovering more of the mysteries of Gravity Falls.

“Dipper!” Mabel screamed as she jumped up and down on the seat in the back of the bus. She grabbed his arm and shook him, “How excited are you right now?!” she demanded with a huge smile, “Dipper I can’t even handle it!”

“Whoa, Mabel,” Dipper said as he chuckled and shrugged his arm from her iron tight grip, “Yeah, I’m pretty excited too,” he admitted with a smile.

“I know, me too!” she shouted. 

Mabel had been raving about returning to Gravity Falls for the past two weeks, packing her bags way before she needed to, and constantly trying to convince their parents to let them skip the last week of school. Finally, they were minutes from arriving at the bus stop. Ahead, they could see the forest begin to thin out as it made way for the peculiar town. Mabel, however it was possible, got even more excited.

When they arrived, Stan helped the kids pack their bags into his car and he drove them back to the shack. There, all their friends (well, not all of them) greeted them with hugs and laughter and couple of I missed you’s. They eventually went inside, where the twins took their bags up to their room before coming back downstairs and talking more with everyone. Dipper was having a fun time catching up… until he felt a tug trying to direct him outside. Mabel was telling a story he heard a good dozen times, so he got up a left the room, causally making his way to the door.

He stepped out into the cool summer night and smiled. He really missed Gravity Falls and took a deep breath full of the fresh air, smiling softly. Dipper was about to turn around and go inside, but then he suddenly realized why he wanted to go outside. From the trees stepped a thirteen year old boy, wearing a yellow sweater, black shorts and shoes, shaggy blond hair, a missing eye, and a bow tie. 

“Bill,” Dipper stated quietly under his breath. 

The boy looked down and played with nails as he responded slowly, “Hey… Pinetree.” His voice was guarded and slow, almost like he was being cautious… like he was embarrassed? No… like he was ashamed?

It’s been a few months since Dipper last saw him and was unsure of whether or not to scold him for abandoning him, be happy to finally see him again, or to match his bland but cautious approach. Choosing the last option, Dipper stated, almost awkwardly, “It’s… been awhile, Bill… How are you?”

Looking up from his hands and putting them in his pockets, he smirked slightly and met his eyes, “I’ve been doing well… but so much better as of lately.”

Dipper may have blushed slightly at the connotations he found in that statement, but considering it was dark outside, he didn’t care enough to take notice. Something in Bill’s tone and voice had changed, and Dipper didn’t know what to do, exactly. “Do you want me to go get Mabel?” Dipper asked, stepping down the porch steps to stand closer the edge of the barrier.

Bill smiled but replied, “No, no, that’s okay. I’ll say hi to Shooting Star in the morning,” he paused and Dipper almost thought that there was a tired and weary edge to his voice, “I just… wanted to see you.”

With that, Bill pulled Dipper into a gentle hug, which Dipper reciprocated as he stepped from behind the barrier and matched his level of care. There was something familiar and comforting in hugging him, and even though he was angry that Bill completely left him alone without even giving a valid excuse, he was calm and smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around his back.

They pulled away slowly, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Pinetree,” Bill promised with a smile as he turned to leave. Dipper didn’t want to admit that he missed hearing Bill call him by that nickname.

Dipper suddenly felt like he needed to tell him something, but he didn’t even know what, “Bill!” he said, prompting the boy to turn around with an expectant look on his face. “I… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Bill smiled and nodded then turned to walk away again. Dipper did the same, going up the porch stairs and into the shack. He knew that he should hate Bill, that he should have scolded him, and then probably demanded answers, but seeing his friend smile had shot the anger straight from his chest in that moment. He would deal with this tomorrow.

“Hey, Dipper, you missed the story!” Mabel scolded when Dipper reentered the living room.

“Sorry, I just went out for some fresh air.”

***

“Bill!” Mabel shouted with glee as she jumped off the porch, ran over to the demon-turned-boy, and enveloped him in a friendly hug, “Hey, you evil jerk!” she giggled, “What did you do all this time we were gone?!”

Dipper walked down the stairs causally, with his hands in his pockets. From over Mabel’s shoulder, Bill glanced up and caught Dipper’s eyes, which prompted him to raise his eyebrow in an agitated and challenging manner upon hearing Mabel’s question. Dipper woke up this morning set in his resolve to be a complete jerk to that… complete jerk. It was only fair.

“Oh you know,” Bill answered as they pulled away and he shrugged, “Hopping dimensions, making deals… demon business.”

Dipper’s blood suddenly boiled and he realized that he made the correct decision in choosing to be angry with him. He was going to demand answers as soon as he was able to, and he wasn’t going to back down when Bill got cavalier and tried to change the subject.

“Well, I’d love to hang out with you again, but this girl has got a meeting with her best girlfriends!” Mabel said, jumping excitedly, “I’ll see you tomorrow though!” she shouted behind her as she ran off.

With that, Dipper and Bill were suddenly alone. Dipper’s icy glare rested on Bill’s eye and he crossed his arms; however, Bill remained unfazed, “Hey, Pinetree,” he said evenly with a small smile.

Dipper was slightly upset that his obviously peeved posture didn’t put him off, but it was Bill. It took more than a glare to affect him. “Hi, Bill,” he spat.

“Pinetree, you don’t seem as… 'Pinetree' as you usually do,” he chuckled, “What did eighth grade do to you?”

“Maybe you would’ve known if you didn’t abandon me halfway through the year,” Dipper grumbled.

“So is that what this is about?” Bill laughed, “It was a few months, Pinetree. I’ve been here since the beginning of existence itself. A few months aren’t that big a deal.”

“Bill, I’m human! It’s a much bigger deal to me,” Dipper’s voice cracked a little on the word, “You didn’t even tell me you were leaving,” he said in a quieter tone of voice, suddenly his anger was gone and he just sounded hurt, “I would’ve been fine if you just told me…”

“Well, geez, Pinetree, I guess it’s my fault for thinking you were smart enough to go without me for a few months,” Bill scoffed sarcastically.

Dipper was unsure he was just complimented or insulted. “Look, Bill, I’m sorry for being so mad at you, but you left me completely alone. You were my only friend.”

“Look, I’m still new to these human emotions and having to deal with them, but I can guess that you feel ‘hurt,’” Bill accentuated with some air quotes. Dipper didn’t object, so he continued, “I guess you want an ‘apology’ but I also don’t really know how those work, so instead I’ll tell you that I overestimated your abilities.”

Dipper blinked a few times, “Are you insulting me instead of telling me that you’re sorry?” 

Bill shrugged, “Actually I was complimenting you, which I also don’t deal much with, so you’d better be damn flattered because it’s not going to happen again.”

Dipper was taken a back for a moment, “Compliment? You just told me that you overestimated me. You’re saying that I’m less than you thought.”

Bill rolled his eye and crossed his arms, “Which means that at one point I had more confidence in you and didn’t even bother to peek into the future to see if I was right. Geez, Pinetree, maybe I’m still overestimating you.” Dipper tried to process the “compliment.” Did Bill really think highly of him at one point? Bill sighed, “Come on,” and held out his hand to Dipper. He looked at his outstretched hand, to his face, and back again without taking it. Bill sighed again and grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the forest, “Let’s go do something dangerous and stupid that will nearly get us killed.”

Dipper smiled softly. Bill may have thought that he was bad at apologies, but the gesture was at least appreciated. He didn’t completely get the explanation he was looking for, though, but he actually missed the demonic jerk. He was his only friend (besides Mabel) and when they hung out with one another, they had a lot of fun. Bill encouraged him to be himself, and was probably one of the most interesting people he would ever meet. Dipper was still pretty upset with him, but decided to put that anger on the back burner. Bill was complicated and no matter how much shouting Dipper did, he wasn’t going to get Bill to feel guilty. 

Coming out of his thoughts and back into the present, Dipper suddenly noticed something of grave importance. Bill was holding his hand. Dipper’s heart suddenly picked up speed. It was just like in that stupid dream he had last summer that he managed to forget up until this point. Out of the corner of his eyes, he glanced from their hands, to Bill’s gently content face, back to their hands again. When did this happen? Wasn’t he just holding onto his arm? Did he even realize that his hand slipped dow-? Suddenly, Bill casually interlaced their fingers. 

Dipper tried not to freak out, both because this was actually happening and because he wasn’t even trying to do anything to stop it from continuing. He knew his face was probably bright red, he was surely sweating way more than a normal amount, and his heart was racing. With every second that ticked past, he knew it would be harder and harder to explain why he wasn’t pulling away. He was sure he was rapidly approaching the point of no return. He had to decide what to do, and soon, before any explanation he could make up would sound farfetched.

Did Bill even understand this gesture? He was allegedly all-knowing, meaning that he at least had an inkling as to what this really meant. So… did that mean that Bill… liked him? Dipper considered the feeling of their fingers interlaced and didn’t actually think that it felt all that bad… he actually kind of liked it. 

_“Oh no,”_ Dipper thought, the voice inside his mind taking on a very grave tone, _“Do I… like Bill?”_

His mind raced. Of course he didn’t, he was just his friend. Just because he liked holding his hand didn’t mean he was in love with the guy or something. He’s seen Mabel hold hands with her friends before… albeit they were all girls, but really, should that make a difference? Two guys can hold hands as one leads them down an eerie and secluded forest pathway in a completely platonic manner, right? There was nothing more to this…

Sure, he loved how it felt when he made him laugh, and during the school year, there was no one he was more excited to see at the end of the day. Sure, he blushed that one time they fell on top of one another. Sure… he thought it was cute the way his hair fell in front of eyes… and he loves it when he calls him “Pinetree…” and his heart always picked up its pace when he saw that mischievous look that he always seemed to be wearing… Dipper knew that these were all thoughts of his, but they were ones that, he only now realized, were shoved down out of his conscious mind.

_“Oh no… Do I… I… I like him, don’t I? Oh no…”_

Dipper tried to think back to where this started, but couldn’t pinpoint an exact instance, but in doing so, he realized something…  
_“Has Bill been flirting with me the entire time?!”_  
He thought back to Bill’s words, his tone of voice, and the looks on his face. They didn’t mean anything, did they? Bill was mischievous. Actually, he was probably holding his hand right now in an attempt to make him uncomfortable. He brought his mind back to reality in order to sneak another glance at Bill’s expression. It didn’t change to any kind of smirk, and he didn’t have that playful glint in his eye. Maybe it was an accident? Maybe his hand just slid down his arm and he wasn’t really conscious enough of human customs to realize this wasn’t actually a typical thing to do…?

“Alright, Pinetree!” Bill said suddenly, letting go of his hand and gesturing to the area around them, “Here, we’re going to…”

***

On the way home from their adventure that day, Dipper actually wanted Bill to hold his hand again. He wasn’t sure if it was for the purpose of research, as he tried to come up with whether or not it would wield the same results now that the initial shock had worn off, or if it was just because he liked how it felt. He walked close to Bill every now and then, trying to have their hands brush up against one another so Bill would take his, but he never did. When they made it to the shack, Dipper knew that he felt disappointment sitting heavily in his stomach.

“See you later, Pinetree,” Bill said when they made it back.

“Yeah…” Dipper said as he quickly scanned his face with his eyes, “See you later…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hand holding. Is. CANON. Is it bad that as I was rereading this chapter, I squealed at my OWN work?
> 
> Also I learned how to do html italics so now when Dipper is thinking something, it's more obvious that he's not blurting these things out for no reason.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	6. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some sibling bonding and then a little bit of fear for good measure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boyfriend broke up with me so that's why I'm putting this up at like 11PM (from my perspective at least)   
> I'm okay now thank you everyone for your support I really do appreciate it. <3

“Hey, Mabel?” Dipper asked as he lay on his bed, absentmindedly flipping through the journal he started with Bill and darkening some of his sketches. His hair was damp from his shower, starting a slowly growing mark on his pillow.

Mabel was giggling with Waddles as she knitted him two pairs of little pig socks and some “ear warmers.” Mabel was the only one who knew why these were necessary. She looked up for a moment with a silly smile, “Yeah, Dip?”

“Why…” he paused for a very slight second to choose his words and continued with an inquisitive tone, “…do you like guys?”

Without missing a beat she laughed and proclaimed, “Because they’re hot!” Waddles squealed and matched her excited tone, and then, much to Dipper’s chagrin, added, “Just like Bill.”

In an attempt to ignore that addition, Dipper added some shading to his drawing of the monster that attacked him and Bill last year, “Okay, sure, but I thought that Wendy was hot, but you didn’t fall in love with her.”

“Well, sure Wendy is beautiful, but I don’t see her like that,” Mabel tried to clarify.

“But why?” Dipper asked, still trying to get to the bottom of this and hiding behind his journal.

“I don’t know, Dipper,” Mabel said, not exactly in a frustrated tone, but more flustered by his persistence. She put her knitting down for a moment. “Dipper are you trying to justify liking Wendy again? I thought you were over her for the millionth time.”

“No, no…” he answered, Wendy being the least of his problems. After a second or so passed, he ventured, “What does it mean when two people hold hands?”

Mabel giggled, “Well it means that two people like each other, silly.” She picked up her knitting, happy the light mood returned. 

“I’ve seen you hold hands with your friends before,” Dipper added, really trying to discuss his problem without revealing too much.

“Well that’s because I like them.”

“But not like like them.”

“Well, no.”

Mabel was being complicated and Dipper needed a new scenario to get things back on track. He put his journal down and sat up as he asked, “Okay, what would you do if you were hanging out with a new girl and she held your hand?”

She laughed, “Well it probably means that she really wants to be my friend, which I don’t blame her for, I’m amazing.”

“Okay, now what if a guy held your hand?” he prompted.

“Oh,” Mabel said in a dismissive tone and shrugged, “He’s definitely in love with me, which I also don’t blame them for.”

“So, just because a guy is holding your hand, it means that he’s trying to flirt with you?” Dipper tried to understand her reasoning. Mabel was a love expert, so if anyone could explain this to him, it would be her.

“Well, yeah, guys just don’t hold hands with their friends. I don’t know why, but they don’t. So, I would be left with only one explanation,” she shrugged like it was obvious and no big deal, “If a guy holds your hand, it means they like you, and if you let them hold your hand, then it tells them that you like them back.” Dipper could the heat rise up his face as he slowly began to freak out. Bill held his hand, and he let him hold it. That means that Bill liked him, and Dipper told him that he liked him too. Mabel giggled as she thought, “Especially if they interlace their fingers with you,” she glanced up as she continued, “That definitely means-” she paused, “Dipper why is your face so red?”

_“Oh no,”_ Dipper thought as he turned completely around and faced the wall next to his bed. He grabbed his journal and pretended to read from it, but he knew he was totally caught, “It’s not, I- I don’t know what you’re talking about…” he stammered.

She was hopping onto his bed in a matter of seconds. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, a huge smile on her face, “Dipper!” she shouted, excitement thick in her voice, “What happened?! Why are you asking all these questions about love?!”

Dipper loved her, and he knew she was eventually going to find out. He was hoping it was going to be when he was totally ready to tell her and sure of himself, but there was no way out of it now, “Bill… held my hand today…”

Mabel squealed.

“And…” Dipper braced himself, “I let him…”

She squealed even louder, if that was possible, and had a huge smile on her face.

“Because I liked it,” he finished with a defeated huff.

Mabel, the image of unrelenting joy and glee, squealed and hopped up and down on his bed, holding onto his arm as she muttered a mix of “Oh my gosh” and “I can’t believe it!”

Settling down, she kneeled beside him, “Dipper! You have to tell him!” she gushed and shook him by his shoulders.

“Mabel!” Dipper scolded as he pulled himself away, “It’s Bill. He tried to kill us all last year. He’s an evil demonic jerk. I’m not going to tell him that I liked holding his hand,” he said, his tone trying to exaggerate how ridiculous it sounded.

“Okay, okay,” Mabel said, trying to clarify, “So who held whose hand first?” Dipper explained how it was just his arm, then he zoned out, and when he came back he realized that Bill was holding his hand. In the end, he added how Bill interlaced their fingers. “Dipper!” Mabel squealed again, “He definitely likes you! And you told him that you liked him back when you didn’t let go!”

“Mabel, I don’t even know if I like him!” Dipper tried to explain, “I was just shocked. I didn’t know what to do…”

“Dipper, I’m going to give you the same advice that I gave you when you were obsessed with Wendy: Just tell him that you like him. It’ll fix everything! Remember how good it felt when you told Wendy the truth?”

“Mabel, she turned me down and it was awkward for weeks afterwards,” Dipper bluntly reminded her, crossing his arms.

“But, Dipper,” Mabel said suddenly a little more gentle, “If you didn’t, you would probably still be in love with her.” Dipper didn’t deny it, but still didn’t want to agree. “Please, Dipper! Please!” Mabel begged as she tugged on his shirt, “Please promise me that you’ll tell him tomorrow!”

“Mabel…” Dipper said, slightly defeated, “I don’t even know if I like him like that.”

“Dipper…” Mabel persisted, slightly pouting, “I bet you feel all warm when you’re with him, and you can’t wait to hang out with him again, and love it when you make him laugh or smile, and that you’re constantly blushing when he talks to you.”

Everything she had said applied to him, so he thought for a moment and sighed as he answered, “Alright, fine… Just… give me a few days to sort it out and I promise I’ll tell him… just not tomorrow,” Dipper agreed, still unsure, but not wanting to disappoint her.

Smiling, Mabel threw her arms around her brother’s neck and hugged him, “Thank you, Dipper! You won’t regret it! I promise you that when you tell him, you’ll finally feel happy, and you’ll both smile, and you’ll both laugh, and you’ll think about me and feel grateful that someone finally got you to stop being so stupid-y,” she proclaimed and then grabbed Dipper’s journal and pencil, turning to the very last page. “Here, I’ll even write it down to remind you how right I’m going to be.” 

She scribbled a few notes that read “-happy -smile -laugh -Mabel was right -you are stupid” and handed him the journal. Disgruntled, but chuckling, Dipper took the journal back from her, “Okay, but when you’re totally wrong and Bill burns me to a crisp, I’ll get the last laugh.” Mabel held up her pinky so they could swear on it, but first Dipper added, “So long as you don’t tell anyone or try to push us together.”

Mabel rolled her eyes, but they linked pinkies and made their promise. “I’m happy for you, bro-bro,” she paused for a moment, “So,” she started, having Waddles hop up onto Dipper’s bed and into her lap, petting him as she asked, “How long has this has been going on?”

It was Dipper’s turn to roll his eyes, but one look at her innocent shining eyes told him that he wouldn’t be able to resist finally spilling his guts to another person, “Well… last summer I had this dream…”

***

“Hey, Shooting Star. I like your sweater,” Bill said upon seeing Mabel the next morning. Her sweater was in tones of yellow, and although it wasn’t intended to be reminiscent of Bill, it happened to be.

“Thanks, Bill,” Mabel giggled, “I’ll have to keep making you some new ones too if you don’t stop destroying yours.”

When Dipper came down the porch steps, Mabel’s eyes visibly lit up. It was obvious she was trying to contain herself by how she bit her lip and looked back and forth between the two. Dipper gave her a quick glare to try and get her to remember her promise and regain her composure before she gave away that something was up.

“So, Shooting Star, are you coming with?” Bill asked casually, not noticing their behavior.

“Oh, nooooo,” she said, drawing out her words in a very obviously suspicious way, “I have to work in the shack today, soooo…” she held back a smile, “It’s just going to be you two…” she bit her lip to suppress a giggle, “all alone.”

“Mabel-” Dipper started to scold before she continued.

“Whelp! See you guys later!” she announced, turned on her heel, and skipped back into the shack.

They walked into the forest together. Dipper suddenly felt very awkward with him, knowing that it was his task to determine whether or not he actually had some kind of messed up crush on the guy. He looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. He didn’t even understand what about him Mabel thought was so “hot...” except maybe that heavy sweater. And the way he looked when he had that mischievous glint in his eye. And that content smile he always seemed to wear as if just living was amusing.  
Dipper shook his head. He wasn’t actually supposed to be considering this. He just said that he would for Mabel’s sake. He knew that there was no way he could ever have feelings for this demonic jer-

Suddenly, Bill grabbed Dipper by the arm and pulled him from off the path, snapping him out of his thoughts. Dipper was about to ask what he was doing when he was pushed up against a tree. Dipper was going to shout, but Bill slowly snaked his hand up Dipper’s arm and covered his mouth. 

_“Oh God,”_ Dipper thought, mind in a frenzy, _“What is he doing? Why is he so close to me? I’m probably blushing so bad right now. What the heck is going on?”_

Slowly, Bill brought his face closer. His lips lightly brushed Dipper’s ear as he whispered, “We’re being followed.” 

He slowly uncovered his mouth as Dipper nodded in understanding, his heart suddenly racing for a whole different reason. Bill backed away, keeping his motions slow and careful, turning around to assess their surroundings. His cool demeanor made Dipper more uneasy than calm him down. He wanted to react the same way he was on the inside, but he knew that he needed to keep it under control. He couldn’t bury all of his fear, however, and it was evident in how his breathing quickened and he was sweating more than usual. His heart beat rapidly, and he could feel it reverberating throughout his body. If Bill seemed this freaked out over something following them, he must know it was something bad. 

Something else he must have sensed was Dipper’s slowly rising panic. He turned around, a soft look on his face, and gently put his hands on his shoulders, “Hey, you’re going to be okay,” he whispered. Dipper looked up to meet his eye, actually feeling reassured. It wasn’t even that he completely believed him, but knowing that he cared about him was enough to slightly calm him down. Well, either he cared or knew his panic would be very inconvenient for their escape, which was probably true.  
After a quick peer behind them, Bill gently took his arm and led him as they semi-quietly went deeper into the trees. It got darker and darker the deeper they went, Dipper’s unease slowly returning despite the slight feeling of the security that being with Bill had brought. After five minutes had passed, feeling like an hour to Dipper, he finally decided to whisper, “Bill, where are we going… what’s following us?” 

Bill stopped, “It’s… a thing… yeah, it’s a bad thing,” he said, seeming nervous. 

“Bill, why does that sound like a lie?” Dipper accused. 

“It doesn’t,” he tried to rehash, but his voice actually cracked, which surprised both of those involved. He sighed and hesitantly added, “Alright, I actually don’t know what’s following us, I can just feel it following us, and I know that it’s not good.” 

“Bill, I thought-” 

“Pinetree, I can feel its murderous intent,” Bill said, dead serious, “It’s strong, and I know that it’s coming after us, so we need to keep moving.” 

“Can’t you just fight it?” Dipper asked as Bill reestablished his grip on his arm and continued to tug him through the forest. 

“Sure, I could try, but do you remember what happened the last time?” Bill said as he stopped to look at him, almost agitated, “I almost lost you!” 

Both were surprised by his words, Bill’s face of sudden shock brought by some kind of realization turned into anger, seemingly pointed at himself and his words. They continued to walk in an apparently pointless direction, going farther into the dark. Dipper’s mind raced, processing the events. Bill just admitted that he cared about him… and something that wanted to kill them was chasing them through the forest as they swiftly got themselves more and more lost. 

“I’m taking us back to the shack, but I’m trying to throw it off our trail first. I can’t risk having it hurt you…” he admitted in a hushed tone, “and I don’t want it to be able to follow us, so we have to go deeper before we start to zig zag our way back.” 

“Bill,” Dipper matched the low volume of his voice, still slightly shocked by how he showed he cared, “What happened before was a fluke. You saved my life, after all.” 

“I put it in danger in the first place, Pinetree,” Bill said in an abrasive tone. 

“Well… yeah,” Dipper agreed, knowing he wasn’t wrong, “But…” he moved forwards to walk beside him, instead of just trailing behind, and Bill let go of his arm, “I… trust you,” he admitted, causing Bill to glance up and Dipper met his eye, “I trust you keep me safe and to be able to fight this thing off if you have to.” 

Then, Dipper did something he never thought he would do… not today and not in a million years. With a small smile he gently took a hold of Bill’s hand and interlaced their fingers. They both needed some kind of reassuring, and the gesture was all Dipper could think of. Bill looked away and took a deep breath, appearing to think something over. Then he looked up with determination, squeezed Dipper’s hand to return the gesture, and then kept walking with a new sense of resolve and confidence, “Come on, Pinetree. Let’s get you home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	7. Safety Measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making it home, a late night rendezvous helps devise a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to give anything away, but please brace yourself for the next chapter ahead of time.

It took some time, but they eventually made it to the shack. They went deeper into the forest for about fifteen more minutes, and then started a dizzying zig zag kind of path through the trees. Dipper honestly couldn’t remember the route they took and never knew where they were, but Bill was either extremely perceptive, which was probably true, knew the forest like the back of hand, which was also probably a valid explanation (although maybe the analogy is off, considering Bill only had his current set of hands for a year) or he was using his powers to find a way out. When they were a few minutes away from the shack, it felt like miles.

“So… is the thing still following us?” Dipper asked as they approached the shack. He was going to have to think of some explanation as to why they were back so early.

“No, it’s stuck somewhere in the woods. It lost our scent about halfway through,” Bill explained.

“So, do you really not know what it was?” Dipper asked, still wondering how he could be so unsure.

“Well… no,” Bill said slowly.

“But… how?” Dipper asked, “I thought you were some all-knowing powerful being, the master of the past, present, and future, made of pure energy with no weakness,” he mocked.

“Well, of course I am, Pinetree!” Bill said boldly yet halfheartedly, “But… well… um… well…” he stammered, looking for words. Then, he sighed and they stopped walking. Dipper didn’t notice and tugged against his hand as he jerked to a stop. He stopped and turned to look at him. Bill’s head was lowered and his face was caught in conflict. “Look… I lied to you.”

Dipper wasn’t shocked that he had lied to him about something, but he was surprised that he decided to admit it, “About… what?”

“I’m not actually… completely omnipotent,” he elaborated.

Dipper nodded, not exactly surprised. Sure, Bill knew a lot, but it was probably because he was some trillion year old demon. He never really seemed to completely know everything, especially not the events of the far future. Sometimes his predictions for the near future came out correct, but those were probably coincidences. 

“I can’t actually see the future… and my predictions are just informed hypotheses. You humans are predictable,” he stated and then paused before quietly adding, possibly after a quick glance at their hands, “…usually.” 

Dipper was suddenly painfully aware of how they were still holding hands and how he didn’t really want to let go just yet. He added, “Okay, I assumed that, but it still doesn’t explain why you don’t know what was following us.”

He sighed, “I don’t know everything, and I never did. I’ve just been around since the beginning of time so I’ve learned a thing or two.”

“Okay, but you’re not powerful enough to know what made us run through the forest?” Dipper challenged. He wasn’t trying to be a jerk, but he was confused.

Surprisingly, Bill didn’t get angry, “Look, Pinetree… I just don’t know.”

There was something in his tone of voice that sounded defeated, so Dipper let him be. They continued to approach the shack, Dipper lightening the mood by asking Bill about what they were going to do that day and they quickly chatted about the plans until they got to edge of the barrier around the shack. Dipper realized that they were still holding hands and that everyone inside could see it if they happened to look out the window, so he causally let go. It wasn’t until he let go that he realized how safe it made him feel to be so close to him.

“Now I have to think of some explanation for why I’m back so early,” Dipper said, making conversation to help him ignore how vulnerable he suddenly felt.

Bill crossed his arms, smiled, and chuckled, “You’re smart enough to think of something they’ll believe.”

“You’re not even going to help me out with this? You’re the master of lies,” Dipper teased.

Bill scrunched his nose, “Eh, you’re on your own for this. You’ll think of something.”

Dipper gave a small laugh, “So, I’ll see you later?”

Bill smiled, “Yeah,” he agreed. Before they could part ways, however, Bill pulled him into a hug. Dipper was taken off guard, but involuntarily hugged him back. “I’ll see you tonight,” Bill harshly whispered.

They separated and Bill raised his eyebrows, as if asking Dipper if he understood. Dipper was confused by his secrecy and all his sudden movements, but nodded slightly to match his clandestine actions. They turned and went their separate ways afterwards, Dipper’s mind spinning. Bill was going to be in his dreams that night, but for some reason he was being secretive about it. He didn’t understand his motives, but also thought nervously, _“Bill’s going to be in my mind. What if he finds something about this stupid crush thing?”_

He was jolted from his thoughts when he walked into the shack and found Mabel right beside the door. Her face was red and she bit her lip, obviously trying to hold something back.

“Mabel, are you ok-” he tried to ask before she grabbed his arm, which a lot people seemed to be doing today, and pulled him behind the counter.

“Dipper! You guys were holding hands when you walked up! Then you hugged!” she gushed quietly and tried to stop a fit of giggles and squeals, “Dipper, did you tell him how you felt?!”

“What? Mabel, no,” he said, looked around to make sure that no one could hear their conversation, and then continued, “I didn’t, because I still don’t know how I feel. It was just… friendly.”

Mabel was visibly let down, “You both looked so happy when you walked up… I just really thought that… Oh well. I’m sure that when you do tell him, which is going to be soon, you’ll be just as, if not more, happy.”

“Sure, Mabel,” Dipper patted her shoulder, extremely doubtful, “Whatever you need to get through the night.”

Mabel smacked his hand away with a smile, “Hey, why did you come back so early?”

***

He shouldn’t be this nervous. He knew that he was being stupid. It’s not like Bill was planning on prying in his mind and digging up his dark secrets. Did he even have that many dark secrets? It was going to be the first time in his dreamscape since earlier this year and for some reason, he just felt nervous. Also, what was with Bill’s secrecy anyways? Why did he have to whisper to him to like that? Suddenly, another thing Dipper suddenly wondered was whether or not that hug was actually friendly or if it was just so he could whisper to him…

It was dark and quiet, except for the general noises of the shack creaking. Mabel was asleep, flung on her bed, Waddles curled up beside her. Dipper was lying on his side, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. He knew that he really should be getting to sleep, but he just couldn’t relax. His eyes skimmed around the room as he tried, until his eyes happened to fall on the triangle shaped window in the room. He sighed and rolled onto his other side, facing the wall, pulling his blanket around him, and closing his eyes. He knew that a good amount of time passed, but he eventually fell asleep.

It wasn’t immediate, but eventually a distorted version of his room came into view, until it slowly became more and more clear. He was alone for a moment, Mabel’s bed empty and quiet, until he could feel a presence behind him. He slowly turned around to come face to face with the demon. Literally face to face. They were extremely close, and Dipper jumped backwards.

“It’s about time,” he sassed. Dipper was about to say something, but Bill cut him off, “Look, we don’t have much time, I can’t stay here for long,” he explained.

“Okay, well what’s up?” Dipper asked.

“We need to stop hanging out for a few days. These things chasing us, chasing me, are getting too bold. I don’t want you to be in danger. Just give me some time to lure them away,” Bill explained, arms crossed and looking slightly annoyed, but it didn’t seem that the annoyance was pointed towards Dipper.

Dipper was at first disappointed, but then he felt touched. Bill really did care about him, and every time he got more proof of that it shocked him, “Oh, okay… um…” he felt awkward saying this, “Thanks… for caring about me…”

Bill rolled his eyes but he smiled, “Don’t push it, Pinetree.”

“So, what was with all this secrecy?” Dipper asked.

Bill seemed sad and annoyed at the same time, “I didn’t know what could have been listening. There’s too much energy in the forest, especially around the shack, to exactly pinpoint where it’s coming from. I don’t want anything to know that I’m planning on throwing them off our… my… trail.”

“Bill,” Dipper crossed his arms, “I’m in this as much as you are, whether you like it or not.” He knew that Bill wasn’t going to like him saying that, but it was true. He thought that Dipper was just the innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he was more than willing to help him if he needed it.

True to his assumption, Bill got upset, and put his hands on hips, “No you’re not, Pinetree. You don’t have any part in this. It’s just me and these creatures. You’re staying out of this, whether I force you to, or you decide to do something smart for once and keep yourself away.”

Dipper matched his attitude, “Bill, I’m not helpless. I stopped your apocalypse for god’s sake. I have journals all about these things and how to stop them. You don’t have to do this alone and treat me like I’m an idiot!”

“Why can’t you listen to me?!” Bill demanded, seeming irrationally angry, and much like his old self, “I know an infinite amount more than you ever could! I don’t need your help, you getting in my way, or you getting hurt!” he seemed to turn very slightly red, the entire dreamscape taking on the slight hue, “My powers are greater than any one being in the entirety of this earth. I can destroy anything I please, at any moment!” he began to float, the only thing to distinguish him from his original form was his seemingly human shape, “I don’t need you, or anything else questioning me!” Dipper started to step backwards, the fear he felt very much familiar, “If you stand in my way again, I promise that I-”

Suddenly, Bill fell. He dropped to his knees, the dreamscape returning to its original colors, head turned down.

“Bill…?” Dipper asked warily. He didn’t know if it was even smart to care about him at the moment, but he couldn’t stop himself from slowly approaching.

“Look…” Bill said, voice quiet, he looked up slowly. Dipper was surprised to find a look of exhaustion in his eye and face, “…just…” Bill stood up, his entire body showing…weakness, “… know that I’ll never speak to you again if you end up getting yourself killed.”

Dipper wasn’t going to question how Bill could speak to him if he got himself killed. Voice steady and hiding his leftover unsteadiness, Dipper answered, “I understand.”

Slightly grimacing, Bill told him, “I can’t stay here any longer,” and with a small chuckle and smile, Bill sarcastically added, “Sweet dreams.”

The world blurred and distorted until completely disappearing. Dipper jolted into an upright position, finding himself in his bed. He wasn’t exactly afraid anymore, just shocked, and shook up. It was still dark, and as he glanced over at Mabel’s bed he found her to still be fast asleep. He fell back onto his mattress and pulled his blanket close as he stared up at the rafters. 

_“Well, it’s still Bill,”_ Dipper thought, _“Still a psychotic and unpredictable jerk… even if the thing he’s angry about is my lack of self-preservation. I’ve been through way too much to die when Bill is actually on my side. I trust… or maybe I shouldn’t… his ability to keep me safe if it comes down to it. This is crazy… he’s crazy… I’m crazy… but this is actually pretty fun. I don’t want to stop just because Bill thinks I can’t keep myself from dying. I can help more than he thinks. He just underestimates me because I’m human… even though he’s human too… or at least he’s kind of human. I don’t know how he works…And what was up with him looking so weak? He’s ‘a being of pure energy.’ But he’s still in a human body… so maybe he was actually just tired? That sounds stupid… Is it even important to figure this out? How could I even say that, when I know I can’t leave things alone? I shouldn’t even worry though, as long as he doesn’t hurt me intentionally throughout all of this. Plus, I still haven’t figured out how I feel about him. I know that I just made that promise to Mabel to keep her quiet… but now I’m kind of curious. How do I feel about him? I should approach this scientifically. Let’s see… let’s form a hypothesis to test…”_

***

Dipper opened his eyes slowly. He didn’t sleep much last night, but nothing about that was new to him. He couldn’t have fallen back asleep in if he wanted to, Mabel and Stan were way too loud for him to sleep through. He rolled out of bed, still tangled in his blanket, as he groaned. He landed on the ground with a thud, groaning continuing. He stared at the rafters that he studied last night as he thought about Bill’s visit, and then he brought up his hands and rubbed his tired eyes. Once he was satisfied with the amount of time he spent lying on the floor, he got up, changed his clothes, packed his backpack, and went downstairs.

“Hey, Mabel,” Dipper started as he walked into the kitchen. He cringed inwardly as he asked, “Can I have some of your Mabel Juice?”

Mabel’s eyes widened with pure happiness, “Oh my gosh, of course you can, Dip!” she shouted in glee and ran to grab it from the fridge. 

“Uh, kid, are you sure that you want…” Stan started before Mabel cut him off.

“Of course he’s sure!” Mabel chimed, pouring him a glass of the dangerous liquid, “Do you want a plastic dinosaur in your cup?”

“No thanks, Mabel,” Dipper answered as he grabbed his glass. He silently apologized to his body and downed it, glitter and all. “It’s not even… that bad…” he said warily.

“Of course it isn’t!” Mabel beamed, “How can anything named after me taste bad? Oh! You should have waited five more minutes, I was going to add in some Smile Dip to sweeten it…”

“Trust me, Mabel, it’s sweet enough,” Dipper reassured as he put an apple and some granola bars in his bag, “Love you guys, I’ll see you later!” Dipper said as he walked out of the kitchen, but Mabel stopped him in the hallway.

“Where are you guys going today?” she asked excitedly, “Can I come with you?”

Dipper tensed. They were going to lure all the monsters stalking them away and possibly fight them if they had to. It was way too dangerous to bring Mabel into. “Umm… No,” Dipper answered. He loved her and didn’t like letting her down, but he was keeping her safe.

Mabel was visibly disappointed, “What?” she asked slowly, in disbelief, “Why not?”

Dipper felt terrible, but it was for her own good, “It’s going to be dangerous. I don’t want you to come with us and get hurt.”

“Dipper, you big dummy! We stopped the apocalypse together! Do you really think the things in the forest are going to be any worse than that?” Dipper’s face did not change, so Mabel changed tactics. She made a dramatic pouty face and continued with, “Please, Dipper. Pleeeeeease?”

Dipper remained steadfast, “No, Mabel. Stay here.”

As a response she crossed her arms and shouted, “Grunkle Stan!”

The shack creaked as he shuffled over to the kids in his slippers, “What? What is it?” he grumbled.

“Make Dipper take me with him!” Mabel demanded, pout still on her face, pointing at her brother.

Stan sighed, “Look, Mabel, I don’t even like him going out there. One of you is going to get hurt,” he paused for a moment, “I’d be happier if it ended up being Bill, but I don’t have a choice in this.”

“Stan!” Dipper accused. Sure, he knew Stan didn’t like him, but he would prefer if he didn’t wish him ill will right in front of him.

“Kid, you know he’s dangerous,” Stan attempted to rationalize, “He’s acting like your friend now but it’s only so he can get something from you.”

“Whatever,” Dipper dismissed, and then turned towards Mabel, “You’re not coming with us, Mabel. That’s final.”

He left after that, not wanting to feel any worse or see the hurt on her face. He walked outside to meet up with Bill, who greeted him quickly, and they started going over their plans for the day. Dipper pulled out his journal and they started to strategize. They turned to walk into the forest, completely unaware of Mabel watching them from a window, her dramatic pout falling into one that was much more genuine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	8. I'm Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies are left unheard, falling onto to deaf ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where the serious shit goes down.

Dipper spent most of his time with Bill, strictly prohibiting Mabel from joining them on their excursions to fight off monsters. She was sad, of course. She loved her brother and spending time with him, so being banned from hanging out with him was like torture. One day, however, the forecast called for a beautiful day, but instead it poured rain. Instead of them spending the day inside (Bill couldn’t cross the barrier anyways) they all sat under trees near the forest edge. Bill taught the twins how to draw, apparently all demons were gifted artists, and Mabel was happy to finally have her brother back for a day. This quickly ended, though, as the boys went back to chasing monsters. 

Dipper and Bill stood in front of the shack, feverishly strategizing their next monster luring and fighting techniques. Bill knew that they were just about done getting rid of everything that was brave, or stupid, enough to challenge him and Dipper. Mabel came down the porch stairs, her cheerful attitude visibly turning to one of concern as she ran her eyes over Dipper’s wounds. He had more than his fair share of scratches and bruises, and his sneakers were caked in mud… and was that blood? His hat was gone, he apparently lost it to a set of monster claws, and his hair was messy and unkempt. The bags under his eyes had proven how he hadn’t been sleeping very well lately.

“Hey… guys?” Mabel said cautiously.

“What is it, Mabel?” Dipper asked tersely and distractedly. He was increasingly agitated lately. He couldn’t stand when the monsters got an upper hand on him. It made him feel like Bill was right in his assumption that he couldn’t take care of himself. He was just going to be happy when it was all over and they could go back to their normal adventures.

“Dipper… can I talk to you?” Mabel asked as she grabbed Dipper by his arm and pulled him away from Bill, knowing that he could focus on the conversation better if he wasn’t distracted.

“Mabel!” Dipper scolded, pulling his arm away and sighing, “What do you want?”

Mabel thought that she could calm him down by keeping it lighthearted, “So you’ve been spending a lot of time with Bill lately…” Dipper shrugged. “So… have you told him…?”

Dipper rolled his eyes, “No, Mabel. We’ve been focused on more important things than some silly game you’re playing.”

Mabel was hurt, “Dipper… it’s not a game, you promised me!”

Dipper sighed and then rubbed his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I know I did…” he calmed down a little before asking, “So did you want to talk about anything else? We have stuff to do.”

“Well, I wanted to go into the forest, and Ford said that I can go, as long as I have you with me…”

Dipper rolled his eyes again, “Mabel can’t this wait? We have important things to do today.”

“Dipper, do you think this is more important than me?” Mabel asked, shocked.

“Look, Mabel, just go back into the shack, okay? Just wait.”

Dipper turned to leave, but Mabel grabbed his hand, “Dipper, please come with me!”

He pulled out of her grip, “No, Mabel.”

“But, Dip-”

“Mabel!” Dipper snapped, thoroughly annoyed, “You think you’re strong enough to go out with me and Bill, why don’t you prove it by doing whatever it is you want to alone?!”

Mabel was hurt, but she hid it with anger, “Fine! I will!”

She stormed inside the shack and then came back out with her backpack over her shoulders. Still hiding her sadness, she stomped into the forest in the opposite direction of where the boys were headed. Dipper rolled his eyes and walked back over to be beside Bill.

“Pinetree?” he started.

“She’ll be fine,” Dipper grumbled as he pulled his journal back out of his bag, “Let’s just get rid of these dumb things already.”

The two trudged into the forest.

***

The sun was about to start setting when they returned. The shadows were getting long, and Dipper was finally feeling the exhaustion he had been trying to avoid for the past few days. 

“We’re almost done, Pinetree. I can feel it. There’s just a few more, but they’re so far out that we can take a break,” Bill explained happily.

“It’s about time,” Dipper said through a yawn and stretched his sore muscles. 

“You really look like hell,” Bill chuckled, taking in Dipper’s new cuts and the mud that caked parts of his body.

“I know…” Dipper noted his bruises mottling his skin and the cuts that were still sore, “Mabel was right to want me to take a break…” 

“Is this one of those times where you humans feel the need to admit your wrongdoings in order to be absolved of your sins?” Bill asked in a serious tone.

“Well… that sounds more like a confession… but yeah, pretty much.”

Bill scoffed, “The same things, neither of them have any chance of physically affecting the world or fixing the past mistake, resulting in them just being wasted breath.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow, “You’re really… demonic today.”

Bill shrugged, “Slaughtering my enemies puts me in the mood.”

The boys got back to the shack, said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways. Dipper kicked off his shoes and took off his shirt outside, so the mud wouldn’t be tracked throughout the shack. He took a shower and cleaned his new wounds, trying to make them look a little nicer, to keep Mabel from scolding him. He sat around in their room for a little, going through his journals, old and new, and reading a little, just wasting time. He was started to wonder where Mabel was when Stan called from the kitchen.

“Kids! Dinner!”

Dipper hopped down the stairs, thinking that Mabel was hiding from him in the living room, giving him the cold shoulder. He got into the kitchen, finding only Stan.

“Where’s Mabel?” Dipper asked as he sat down.

“What? I thought she was with you,” Stan grumbled.

_“Oh no,”_ Dipper thought quickly. 

“Did she say when she was going to come home?” Dipper asked, suddenly nervous.

“She said sometime before dinner,” Stan replied, noting Dipper’s sudden nerves, “Are you ok-”

“And you’re sure she didn’t come back yet?” Dipper asked quickly.

“No, she hasn’t… What’s wrong?” he asked.

Wringing his hands nervously, Dipper answered, “We got into a fight, and she went off alone. Stan, what if she’s lost? It’s all my fault! She’s probably so scared right now! I-”

“Hey, calm down,” Stan reassured, “Mabel’s a smart girl. She’s probably right on the edge of the forest now. But if it would make you feel better, maybe you should go look for her,” Stan suggested. His cool confidence hid his growing concern.

“Thanks, Stan! We’ll be back soon, I promise!” Dipper ran to the door and grabbed his bag. He slipped on his muddy shoes as he ran in the direction that he saw Mabel leave.

The sun was setting, but there was still visibility. He ran through all the trees as worry started to gnaw on his stomach. He was always paranoid and over-thinking things, but he felt like he had a right to in this case. This was his sister, and she was probably all alone, lost in the forest, scared. What if she was hurt? What if some monster was watching her right now, thinking that she looked tasty as she hopped around on a sprained ankle? 

He tried to put the thoughts out of his mind and focus on the present. “Mabel?!” Dipper called out, his voice surprisingly steady, “Mabel, where are you?!”

His shouts were met with silence and only echoes cared to answer. He started to run more hastily, tripping over branches and roots. “Mabel?!” he continued to call, his voice getting shaky and breathless, “Mabel, can you hear me?!”

He ran his path on instinct, no way actually tracking her. It was possible that he was going to get himself lost too. The sun was setting quickly, and the forest was becoming one large shadow. He took out his flashlight and tried to keep the path in front of him lit. “Mabel, please! Can you hear me?!”

There was sudden rustle to his left, way too large to be the wind. He turned, his heart catching out of fear. He had forgotten that the monsters would be just fine with having him as a snack instead of Mabel. He ran even faster, if that was possible. The path he ran was random and haphazard, really just going wherever he could. “Mabel, I’m sorry! Please!”

Suddenly the rustle began to follow him, or so it seemed. Everywhere he turned, it felt like eyes were bearing down on him. He tripped and skinned his knees, but stood up as if he didn’t even notice. “Mabel!” he shouted, his voice getting weak. He began to choke up as tears threatened. He was lost, and she was lost. There was no way either could find their way out now.

“Mabel…” he yelled weakly. Suddenly, he fell forwards, face first into the ground. It was violent, and his head spun, air refused to enter his lungs. Gasping and crying, he tried to shout her name again, but he couldn’t move. The rustling was close, and the dark was absolute as his flashlight was knocked out of his hands when he fell.

He tried to cough out her name once more, but failed. Steps crunched close to him as he lay helpless on the ground. He was going to die. He failed her. He was-

“Pinetree!” a voice shouted. Suddenly, hands were helping him stand. His flashlight was put in his hands again, and using it, he saw Bill.

“Bill?!” Dipper shouted. Without thinking, he flung his arms around him, hugging and crying at the same time. The amount of safety and comfort that Bill brought him was ridiculous, but he didn’t care at the moment to question it, “How… why…?”

“I could tell that something wasn’t right, Pinetree,” Bill explained, “Now tell me, why are you out here? What’s wrong?”

Dipper moved away from him. Before he could explain, the rustling returned. Bill stood protectively between Dipper and noise. He shouted out some warnings and they waited a minute or two before Bill reassured him they were safe.

“But… what was it?”

“I have no idea,” he admitted before turning to face Dipper, “Now what’s going on?”

“It’s Mabel. She hasn’t come home yet. I just know that she’s probably lost out here, and it’s all my fault. She’s probably so terrified right now, and… I don’t know what to do anymore! I don’t even know where I am! I’m such an idiot…”

Bill took his hand gently, “You’ll be okay. I’ll help you find her.” Dipper didn’t know if he was crying from his fear of Mabel being hurt, or because he was amazed at Bill’s level of concern for him. He squeezed his hand as a reply. “Alright… let’s go find a Shooting Star…”

Together, Dipper leaning on Bill for his strength, they walked through the forest. Dipper didn’t know what Bill was doing to track Mabel, but he trusted him. They walked in silence, Dipper feeling physically and emotionally drained, his head still spinning, tears dried on his cheeks, gently limping throughout the dark, holding onto Bill, envying his confidence and abilities.

The dark was absolute by this point. Dipper’s flashlight was pretty broken from when he fell, so he didn’t even care to try to use it. Bill didn’t even need light to see where they were going, almost in a trance as he led them on a weaving path through the trees in silence, the trance almost making it seem that Bill was unaffected by Dipper’s presence, except when he helped him over the occasional obstacle in their path. 

It gave time Dipper to think, his mind ruminating in his guilt and going over the worst possible scenarios he could imagine. He knew it wasn’t going to help anything to be pessimistic though, so he tried to think more positive thoughts. He knew that Bill wasn’t going to lead him to his sister’s dead body… at least not without a warning. Mabel was smart and strong… she was a fighter and he knew she was capable of keeping herself relatively safe; however, he knew the forest was full of dangerous and crafty monsters, ones he had never seen yet, and would be lucky to never have to run across. He knew that thinking like that would get him nowhere. He had to have hope. Mabel was going to be fine. Mabel was going to be just fi-

“Pinetree,” Bill said quietly. His voice pierced the darkness, making Dipper jump, his anxiety suddenly doubled.

“What… what’s wrong?” Dipper asked, his voice thick with fear.

“She’s close… but she’s so faint. Just… be ready for anything,” he warned carefully.

“What?!” Dipper asked, suddenly hysterical, “She’s close?! Where?! Come on, take me to her!”

He pulled on Bill’s arm, who continued to lead him through the darkness, slow despite Dipper’s new energy. They came into what looked like a clearing, but it was hard to tell in the absolute darkness. Squinting his eyes, Dipper could see a shape lying in the middle.

“Mabel!” Dipper yelled, running forwards, tripping over the uneven ground and something slick, but righting himself enough to fall to her side. His hands were shaking as he wrapped his arms around her form, touching something wet, “Mabel…” he whispered as he began to cry.

He reached into his bag to take out his flashlight. After smacking it a few times, he got it to turn on. He choked back a cry of despair and horror. She was clawed to the bone in some areas, like her arms, looking as if she held them up to defend herself. Her sweater was torn into shreds, and the glitter glistened ironically bright, mixed in with the fresh blood covering her torso. The blood… god the blood… It coated the ground, wet, fresh, and warm. Dipper went blind to the gore when he couldn’t help himself but to rock her as he held her close, “Mabel…” he whispered through his tears, “Mabel… Please, Mabel…” he looked up to Bill, who stood a respectable distance away with his arms crossed and eye turned down, “Bill!” he shouted desperately, “What happened to her?!”

Before he could answer, Mabel began to stir, “Dipper…” she whispered weakly, her voice barely audible. 

Her voice brought a fresh round of tears to his eyes and he hugged her as he choked out, “Mabel… please… what happened?”

Her response was quiet and slow, “Dipper… I’m sorry.”

Confusion ran through Dipper’s mind, “No, no, no, no, Mabel, don’t be sorry, just be okay! Please, Mabel!” he pleaded numbly through his choking tears.

“Dipper…” he could feel her muscles tense as she tried to move. She opened her eyes tiredly to meet his for a brief moment, “I love you…” she stated, voice trembling.

Before Dipper could respond, he felt her entire body go limp in his arms. “No! Mabel!” he yelled hysterically through his tears. He hugged her as close as possible, but could feel how still her body had become, “Please, Mabel!” he continued to sob, “Please! I can’t… I can’t live without you, Mabel! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Mabel!” his voice was cut off by a violent sob that shook his entire body, “Please… I love you too, Mabel… Please…” He was suddenly overcome by his exhaustion, only able to whisper as he rocked her back and forth. Her blood soaked into his clothes, but he didn’t care. It felt like hours until he looked up, his eyes swollen, face red and wet, at Bill. “Can’t you do something?!” he whispered angrily, “Please… I don’t even know what you want anymore, but I’ll give it to you!” he begged, “Please… bring her back…!”

“Pinetree…” Bill said quietly. He walked over to the other side of Mabel’s body and knelt beside her. He put his hand over Dipper’s gently, “I’m a dream demon. I don’t deal with souls. I have no control over them. I can’t help you…”

Dipper jerked his hand away from his, “You have to do something!” he shouted, more tears threatening to fall.

Bill matched Dipper’s level of anger, “What do you want me to do?!” he asked, “Put you in a dream where everything is fine while you rot away here?!”

Dipper scrunched his eyes closed. He knew that he shouldn’t be taking his anger out on Bill, but he couldn’t help it. He felt like he needed to take it out on someone or something, and he was all he had. Slowly, Dipper answered, “Just… bring her back…”

They both understood that Bill couldn’t do that, so they sat in silence as Dipper held Mabel, apologizing over and over again. Bill was still new to emotions, especially devastation such as Dipper’s, but he knew that they couldn’t stay there any longer. “We have to leave, Dipper… Whatever did this is probably nearby…”

Dipper nodded in understanding, standing up with his eyes downcast. Bill gently picked up Mabel’s body. It looked like she had just fallen asleep… like she would wake up the next morning. They turned to leave, but something caught Dipper’s eyes on the edge of the clearing.

“What’s…” he started to ask as he approached the object. He picked it up to examine it, Bill coming up behind him. “It’s… my hat?” he realized slowly. His hat was shredded and destroyed, yet still in one piece. He was confused, but other things were more important at the moment. He dismissively shoved it in his backpack and followed Bill out of the clearing and into the trees.

They walked in silence. Dipper was exhausted both physically and mentally, but couldn’t even lean on Bill for support as he was caring Mabel’s body. His breath occasionally caught in his throat. He was too tired to cry anymore, but emotion still found a way to affect him. The blood soaked into his clothes had gone cold and they stuck to his body. The air was frigid in the night, creating clouds of breath in front of his mouth. He kept his hands in his pockets and his eyes downcast, only glancing up to make sure he was following Bill. His mind was blank, but also spun at the same time. His sister… his best friend… was dead, and it was all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried. Don't worry. 
> 
> I always intended this to happen, and I promise it's for the sake of furthering the plot.  
> I promised fluff and angst and it has finally begun.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	9. Aftermath

Dipper tried to stay in Gravity Falls, but he couldn’t handle it. He wanted to stay with his friends and family, but there were too many memories. His dreams taunted and mocked him, blaming everything on him. He knew they were right, though. He knew it all his fault. He shouldn’t have been such a jerk to her. The only reason why she went alone was because of him. He remembered the reaction when he and Bill got back to the shack with her body. Everyone was in a frenzy. The barrier kept Bill from coming inside, so Dipper didn’t even have any one sympathetic to him that he could lean on. Ford was the worst…

“Where were you when Mabel got hurt?!” he had demanded.

“I was… I was with Bill…” Dipper answered carefully. He expected to be yelled at for leaving Mabel alone, but Ford took another route.

“Dipper! I told you to stay away from him! Now look what’s happened! Look what he caused!” he shouted.

“Grunkle Ford, this wasn’t Bill’s fault! Don’t blame him!” Dipper defended.

“Dipper, I wouldn’t have told Mabel she could go into the forest if I knew she was going alone! She wanted to spend time with you and I knew you would keep her safe! But you chose Bill over your sister and look what happened! Look what you did!” 

Dipper realized that he wasn’t actually beyond crying. His voice caught as tears threatened to spill from his eyes, “Ford… Please…” he begged. He knew he was at fault, but it didn’t help to hear him validate it.

“This is what he does, Dipper! He deceives people and tears them apart! I thought you were smarter than this! I thought you were smart enough to not play his game!” he paused for a moment, “I guess I was wrong.”

He left after that, leaving Dipper an absolute mess. Stan tried to comfort him, but everyone knows that his personal skills weren’t the best. The next days were a flurry of people trying and failing to comfort him. No one understood, and they all said the same things. They tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault. They tried to tell him that everything would be alright. But how could everything be okay when he got his sister killed? He eventually ran from the shack, unable to handle any more people smothering him and lying to him. He sat in the forest under the trees, feeling alone, to have Bill suddenly appear. They didn’t say a single word to one another, but Dipper felt infinitely better when he cried on his shoulder.

Things only got worse when he went home. His friends were replaced by estranged family members he only ever saw on the occasional holiday. They all told him the same things about how everything will get better, and then whispered to one another about what happened. No one, not even Ford, could discern what happened to Mabel. Her body was perfectly healthy, but for some reason her heart just slowed until it completely stopped. 

The funeral was even worse. When all he wanted was to lie in bed, he had to dress up and stand next to Mabel’s body as distant family members nodded with fake sad faces and shook his hand, telling him that they were sorry for his loss. “His loss.” She was his sister… his twin… his best friend. She was lying in a cold box, dressed in a stupid dress that he knew she hated because she thought it was boring. He insisted that she be buried in one of her sweaters, but his parents scoffed at the idea as if he was trying to insult them by suggesting it. 

Everyone expected him to be sad and to be torn apart by her death, and he soared above and beyond their expectations. He spent the summer alone and quiet in his room, alienating himself from everyone. The fact that he didn’t have any other friends became apparent that summer. Bill couldn’t physically leave Gravity Falls, and he continued to not visit him in his dreams. The summer was full of nightmares, tears, and silence.

The school year was no different. He knew that he wanted a friend, but everyone saw him as that weird kid with the dead sister. That was coupled with his shyness and the slowly progressing indifference he began to feel. He decided to just hide himself in his studies to spare himself the inconvenience of having to deal with people. Eventually, though, he stopped caring about his work. What was the point? What was he even working towards? He felt like it was pointless. He spent his spare time sleeping and being blamed by imaginary versions of Mabel for her death.

His parents obviously noticed the change in his personality. They knew he was depressed. They tried to get him help, but he was unresponsive to therapy. When he finally tried to explain why he felt so guilty, the therapist tried to write him off as some kid with an overly active imagination and just gave him medication for his anxiety and panic attacks. His sister was killed by some unseen and unknown monster in the forest, and for some reason no one took that as the truth. They all tried to tell him that he was making that up in order to blame himself. They tried to tell him that there was no way he could have had anything to do with her death… but he knew what he did, and he could never take it back.

****

“Dipper! Can you come downstairs? You have mail!” his mother shouted.

Dipper came downstairs and walked into the kitchen. His mother gave a small smile, but Dipper didn’t return the gesture. He stopped smiling five years ago. “More cards for graduation?” he asked flatly. 

“I think so,” she handed him his mail, “Here you go, sweetie.”

After Dipper took his mail, he went back to his room. With a sigh, he laid back down on his bed, throwing the envelopes on his end table. His room hadn’t changed much in five years. He flung his arm over his eyes and took a deep breath. He had just graduated, barely, from high school. He didn’t have any plans for his future, as apathy totally dictated his life at this point. For instance, it was one in the afternoon and he had yet to change out his pj’s or leave his room for something he actually wanted to do.

He moved his arm from his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. He didn’t think, he just stared with a blank mind. He lived on autopilot over half of the time. After he was done zoning out, which took about ten minutes, he turned his attention to the mail that he flung on his table. He sat up, ran his hand through his hair, and started opening envelopes. They were a mixture of dollar store cards that proclaimed “congrats, grad!” and invites from low grade community colleges that would accept a pot of dirt as a student. He took a second to wonder if he was any better than a pot of dirt, but then decided to not care. He was about to allow himself to dub the mail as the same boring stuff he was getting every day, until he got to the very last envelope. The address was from Gravity Falls.

He sat up a little straighter. He hadn’t been back to Gravity Falls in five years. The envelope was pretty thick, and when he opened it he found that it held more than one card. The first card was from Wendy and her family. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards for a moment when he saw that she had kissed it near her signature. The next card was from Soos, Melody, and Waddles. They had the pig sign the card with a print of his snout. He remembered how grateful his parents were when Soos agreed to take care of Waddles. The last card was from Stan and Ford. Apparently they were getting along with one another as of lately. Mabel’s death shocked them into realizing that they cared about one another. He noticed that also tucked into the envelope was a folded piece of paper. It was a letter.

Dipper pulled it out, curious, to find that it was also from the Stan’s. He read it over, but found himself confused, so he read it over and over again until he fully grasped what it was trying to tell him. Ford had rebuilt the portal, upon finding a way to keep to stable and safer. Even though he spent thirty years between dimensions, he couldn’t deny the pure scientific marvel that was traveling dimensions. He managed to convince Stan to go with him. He wanted to spend time with his brother, rebuild their relationship, and finally go treasure hunting with him. There was a vague impression of a small smile on Dipper’s face. At least one set of Pines twins was going to spend time together.

But the part that really got Dipper was that they were asking for his help. They needed someone to watch the shack, the journals, and the portal while they were gone. The only person they could trust to do that was Dipper. They knew he was smart (despite was his GPA may say by this point in time) and they knew they could trust him to fully understand the weight of what they were asking. Of course, they told him that he didn’t have to do it if he didn’t want to. They knew that coming to Gravity Falls would be difficult, and they didn’t expect him to come running over as excited as he was when he was thirteen, but they still needed his help.

Dipper sat silently in thought. He never once imagined he would go back to Gravity Falls after Mabel’s death. He thought back to all the fun he had there… but that also brought memories of Mabel that he wasn’t prepared to handle at the moment, so he shook the memories from his mind. Something about being needed made him feel good about himself. Something about being trusted to be left alone and not fuck something up was refreshing. He knew that everyone around him walked on eggshells. Always glancing at him to see how he would react to some mention of anything that could remotely be traced back to Mabel. They expected that someone mentioning a sweater would make him break down into tears right then and there like he was eight years old or something. He looked around his room as he thought. The past five years had been the same routine every single day. He never actively went after a change, not seeing the point in it. Nothing he could do would bring Mabel back from the dead. Nothing would fix the apathetic black hole he had thrown his life into.

Yes, Dipper was well aware that he had totally fucked up his life when he stopped caring. He could have graduated as the valedictorian, made important scientific discoveries, and had his own paranormal show by now, but instead he spent his life staring at the same goddamn patch on the ceiling. This was all he knew, though. Times in which he actively tried to improve his life were only distant memories. Would he even be mentally and emotionally able to protect the shack?

He spent the next few days thinking it over. The more he stared blankly at the walls in his room, the more he thought he would be fine with living the rest of his life like that. Just staring, lost in the white washed walls of his own blank mind, completely apathetic to the world around him… but at the same time, the more he did this, the angrier he got at himself. This was his one and only chance to leave. This was his only chance to change. He wouldn’t get another opportunity to return to such a familiar place, yet one so different than he was used to that it wouldn’t throw him into a routine. He could change himself… he could change his life…

And all he had to do…

The only thing had to do was…

Dipper put on a real pair of pants for the first time in weeks and went downstairs to find his parents, “Hey, mom… dad…?” he started when he found them in the living room.  
“Yeah, Dipper?” they asked in different phrases.

“So… I got this letter from Grunkle Stan the other day…”

***

The next few days went by in a blur. It was a lot of packing, making arrangements, and constantly being asked, “Are you sure?” and told, “You don’t have to if you’re not up to it…” After all that passed, if came down to Dipper sitting in his car, his packed bags sitting in the back seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel with nerves. It’s been five years… but he couldn’t stand to spend another day locked in his room, watched by concerned eyes, constantly being expected to break down at any moment. He needed a change. He needed to get away. He needed… Gravity Falls

The trip was long, about eight hours. It never seemed to be that long when he had Mabel with him… but now he only had her memory. The drive was good for him, allowing him to think. It seemed that he spent his life on autopilot, so it was a new feeling in itself to allow thoughts in his mind. He went back and forth between regretting his decision, falling into angst, and then becoming slightly excited at the summer ahead of him. He listened to the radio, hearing songs he’s never once listened to, but were apparently “the hottest songs of the summer.”

When he started to get close to Gravity Falls, the anxiety took precedence over every other feeling. He didn’t know what to expect, or even what he should be expecting. A few times he had to pull off to the side of the road to calm himself down. Did the shack change? Did Gravity Falls change? Was he going to have a panic attack the second he drove up? He got his answers when he arrived in town.

Every building looked the same. The familiarity was both refreshing and eerie. All the people he saw outside were the same people he had come to know over his last summers. It looked like he had never left. Like the entire town was holding its breath until he came back. He suddenly relaxed, letting out his own breath, which he didn’t even notice he was holding, and felt comfort in the sameness. He drove up the road to the shack, anxiety returning.

There was a repeat of previous events. The shack looked exactly the same, and Dipper let out his breath again, grip on the steering wheel softening. He drove up, turned the car off, and sat in silence as he looked up at the shack. A wave of happy memories washed over him, making him smile softly yet sadly. He took a deep calming breath and exited the car.

He smelled the familiar scent of the trees as he walked up to the door and knocked, but got no answer. Right, Stan and Ford had told him where they left the key. He walked in, announcing his arrival, but once again was met with silence. He closed the door behind him and walked through the living room, to the kitchen… not a thing had changed. On the table he found another letter. 

Stan and Ford had left the night before as the portal was in perfect condition to allow interdimensional travel without running a high risk of causing insanity. They left a good many of combinations which included the combination to the vending machine, the hiding places of each journal, the portal room, the portal itself, and of course, the shack. Stan had recently announced the temporary closure of the Mystery Shack, leaving Dipper a good sum of money to be able to make it through the summer, making sure that Dipper didn’t have anything to worry about during his stay. They had made up the extra room for him, making it so he didn’t have to go upstairs to the attic unless he absolutely needed to. Soos and Wendy were planning on visiting sometime soon, but probably not until the next week. They thanked him for helping them, and thankfully didn’t reiterate how they knew that staying would be difficult. If he heard another person tell him that, he was going to have an absolute breakdown right there and begin to believe that he wasn’t able to do anything on his own.

He spent the rest of the day exploring the shack, remembering old memories. He didn’t care that he cried more than once. Sometimes it was because he was remembering happy memories that warmed his heart, other times because he felt absolutely alone, and other times because he missed Mabel’s smiling face. He knew he would spend a day like this and was happy that he could get it out of the way by doing it while no one was around. 

He was fine with his sobs echoing through the empty shack, answered by the creaking of the old building. He didn’t care that he felt choked, his cheeks and shirt wet from his tears, his body utterly exhausted from finally allowing himself to feel for one of the first times in five years. When he fell asleep that night, he felt completely empty. This emptiness wasn’t a void of emotion, however, but a free and cleansed feeling that left him light and calm. Although he slept with dried tears tight on his face, he was at peace.

***

Waking up to silence was a blessing… but realizing he was alone was even better. He didn’t have to watch his steps, he didn’t have to deal with being watched, and he didn’t have to be regarded as a ticking time bomb. He ate his breakfast, not caring that it was already eleven and his mother would say something quietly about how he needs to stop sleeping so late. He watched whatever he wanted to on tv, not caring that his father would give an offhand remark about how he needed to grow up and spend his time doing something more productive. He wore his pj’s for as long as he wanted, not having to brace himself for exaggerated comments after he changed about how amazed everyone was that it looked like he was actually going to do something with his day.

Something about the new environment gave him energy, so he didn’t feel like watching tv all day long. He changed his clothes earlier than usual, putting on a pair of jeans and a light flannel, the sleeves of which he rolled up past his elbows. Only needing to please himself was refreshing. He ran his hand through his hair until his curls decided to cooperate. He smiled slightly at his reflection, but it fell. He didn’t trust the quiet and this odd sense of happy that he had fallen into. He took his anxiety medication, sure that a sudden break was lurking under the surface; the calm before the storm. He was too fucked up to suddenly find peace after one day away.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. He frowned, confused, but started walking towards the door. Soos and Wendy weren’t supposed to be here until next week… unless it was… he cringed. A surprise party? Sure he appreciated the gesture, but he couldn’t help but to feel bereaved of his quiet time. He could only see the outline of one person at the door. He was relieved, but confused again. Maybe it was some kind of delivery? Maybe… some kind of salesmen? Did those even exist anymore? He opened the door. 

He froze. His mouth went dry and his heart began to race. He felt cold and warm at the same exact moment. His first feeling of confusion was replaced by another. He had no words at the moment. There the visitor stood; a shock to his heart, a pain in his chest. He thought back to every night he cried, every night he begged for someone to talk to and listen to him, every night that he spent alone, wondering what he did to be abandoned. He looked into that eye with the slightly elongated pupil when the visitor finally broke the silence.

“Hey, Pinetree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	10. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How should one feel about this sudden unexpected visitor...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long, but with classes starting up and my new boyfriend I've been distracted.

The silence between the two was awkward as they sat in the living room, trying to think of things to say and trying to hide that they were looking one another up and down. It was five years apart. Dipper didn’t know how to react. He was reminded of the last time they were reunited at the beginning of summer. He was struggling with feelings of abandonment that were only multiplied by a million now; however he had spent enough time disregarding those feelings for them to become numb.

“You’ve changed,” Bill stated, getting the obvious out of the way. 

Dipper had grown pretty tall over the years. He sometimes smiled as he thought about how much taller than Mabel he probably would be if she were alive, and how he could lovingly taunt her about it, throwing all the jokes she used to tell right back at her. He was also lanky, not doing much to condone the growth of muscle and his depression had taken away most of his appetite. His hair was still a curly mess, no longer wearing a hat after that summer. His face was a little scruffy at his point, not thinking that he would have to deal with people for at least another couple days, but for some reason he didn’t really care if Bill saw him looking a little rough. Actually, he didn’t really mind that Bill was interrupting his solitude.

Dipper smiled weakly and gave one of those laughs that was just blowing more air of your nose than usual, “No kidding,” he said sarcastically, “You did too.”

Bill, surprisingly, also aged. His blonde hair was still shaggy, he wore a yellow t-shirt, black pants, and black shoes, and of course, above all, he still sported his missing eye and bow tie. His face was clean, and his hair covered more of the hole in his face than it did before, but there was no mistaking that he was an older version of the kid he hung out with before. Also, as Dipper had grown to understand these things, he realized that Mabel was most likely correct in his previous assumptions of him, as she would be now. He was hot.

“So…” Dipper started, an important question on his tongue, “How exactly did you get past the barrier?”

Bill raised his eyebrows (or at least Dipper assumed he raised them both. He couldn’t be sure, as one was hidden by his hair) surprised, “You honestly can’t tell?” he asked, amazed.

Dipper was confused, “Tell… what?”

“Pinetree,” Bill explained with a smile and laugh, “I’m human.”

“You’re what?!” Dipper shouted, jumping from his seat, completely shocked and amazed, “How… How could you become… How?”

Bill laughed, “Calm down. Let me explain

Dipper sat back down hesitantly, “How is this even possible?”

“Look… I lied to you before,” he admitted with a shy smile.

“That’s not really a surprise…” Dipper noted, unaffected.

“I don’t even remember what I told you before back when you were a kid about why I wanted to hang out with you, but the real reason was because I knew that I was losing my powers. I reverted into this fancy human-like shell to my conserve energy. In the meantime I lied to you about why I wanted to hang around you, you were so gullible, so I could learn about human mannerisms.”

“What?!” Dipper asked, “Why didn’t you just tell me you were losing your powers? How did you even start losing them in the first place…?”

“When you stopped my apocalypse, you cut me off from my power supply. I couldn’t just tell you that I was weak, I was hundred percent demon, I had a reputation. I couldn’t just ask the closest kid for help and tip everything off that I was slowly losing it all.”

“Wait…” Dipper thought for a moment, “Is that why you stopped coming into my dreams with me? You were conserving power?”

“There you go, now you’re getting it!” Bill said, proud that Dipper was following along.

Dipper ran his hands down his face, “Fuck, Bill!” he shouted. Bill was shocked by his sudden outburst. “Why didn’t you tell me that?! You left me all alone, feeling totally abandoned!” he thought that those feelings had become numb, but they apparently thawed out, “You left me alone when I needed you the most and I thought it was because you hated me or something! What were you even doing this entire time?!”

“Well, I used the last of my power to put myself in this stasis that kept me from being conscious of this world and my human bodily needs… until you came back, of course,” Bill suddenly got serious, “All of your emotions were so strong, I could tell it was you, even through the stasis. I could feel everything you did, up until I got enough strength to finally break myself from the bubble…” he glanced over at Dipper, who sat looking slightly ashamed, “Are you… okay? I’m still new to these human emotions… and everything I was hit with… it kind of… scares me, if that’s the correct word to describe what I felt…” 

“I’m fine… Don’t expect to feel like that ever again. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

Bill stood up, cutting off his sentence, suddenly in his usual chipper mood again, “Eh, it’s fine! Now that I have no way to run from it anymore, why don’t you teach me to be human!”

Dipper smiled slightly, but it suddenly turned into a grimace. Bill was going to be a stubborn jerk, and probably impossible to teach. Human or not, Dipper had his work cut out for him.

***  
“-you have to shake their hand. You always shake someone’s hand when you meet them for the first time. It shows respect and that you’re friendly.”

“But I’m not friendly.”

“It doesn’t matter. Being human is all about appearances. You’re good at lying. Being human is not different. Just make people believe you’re a good person and then you can be as much as a dick that you want when you get home.”

Bill smiled, “Lucky for you.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and put out his hand, “Look I know you have tons of experience with shaking hands, but we still gotta practice here, because I don’t trust you. Your grip needs to be firm, but not crush- Ah fuck!” Dipper screamed, taking his hand away from Bill, “What the hell?!”

He shrugged, but smiled mischievously, knowing what he did was wrong, “You said my grip needs to be firm.”

“If you let me finish my sentence I would have said that you can’t go around crushing people’s ha-” 

Dipper’s sentence was cut off by Bill’s stomach growling. He scowled, “Is this what it feels like be hungry?” he was obviously displeased, “This is terrible! No wonder why people’ve sold their souls to me for food before!”

Dipper rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’m hungry too. I’m watching tv after dinner, human lessons are done for today. I’m mentally exhausted. Do you want pizza or mac and cheese?” Bill didn’t answer, and Dipper shrugged dismissively, “Pizza it is.”

***

The two ate their pizza, Bill obviously liking it. He acted like a child, new to the world, and it was pretty amusing. Actually, Dipper was having more fun with him than before, back when Bill was the one with all the information, and Dipper the one eagerly wanting his secrets. It was such a strange day, but it served as an amazing distraction from Dipper’s state of mind. Being looked up to and appreciated was such a change from what he had grown accustomed to, that he almost felt like he was… cured. Obviously, a cure from anxiety and depression couldn’t just arise one day and completely wipe away all his problems in twelve hours, but Dipper felt normal for the first time in years because he was being treated like he was normal.

The two were on the couch, Dipper lying on one end, and Bill sitting at the other. They were watching some stupid paranormal show which always succeeded in making Bill shout things like “that’s not what that looks like!” or “That doesn’t even live in that area!” Obviously the show was a fake, but it was interesting enough to watch. As the sun set, the day begun to weigh on Dipper, and at some point he fell asleep in front of the glowing tv.

It would have been a peaceful end to an odd day, if it wasn’t for the nightmares. He was plagued by more guilt. He was too exhausted to dream on the first night, but now it all came back to him. Mabel cried and begged for his forgiveness, but Dipper just pushed her away into the forest, telling her that he didn’t love her. He stared coldly at her mangled corpse, not caring that she reached out for him to help her. He walked away as she cried herself to her death. He admitted that everything was his fault and that he didn’t even care.

It all faded away when he felt himself be shaken awake. He look around the dark living room, confused, fresh tears on his face shining from the light of the tv, to see that Bill had a hand on his shoulder. “Bill…? What…?” he mumbled as he quickly rubbed the tears from his eyes. Of course he wasn’t cured. It was stupid that he even hoped so.

“Pinetree, I know what it looks like when someone is having a nightmare,” he said softly, voice full of concern.

Suddenly, probably too exhausted to care, Dipper allowed himself to break down and cry. It was in no way a new feeling to have sobs wrack his body and keep him awake all night, but having someone beside him to quietly lend support was completely different. He calmed down quicker, and actually was able to fall back asleep again afterwards. Of course, it was a cycle that went all until the next morning. If Bill was hoping to enjoy his first night sleeping, he was sorely mistaken. But he didn’t complain the next day, although he yawned enough to show that it had taken a toll.

“Sleeping is so… stupid,” he mumbled tiredly as he laid his head down on the kitchen table.

“It helps to get at least eight hours,” Dipper mumbled into his cereal.

Bill scoffed, “And what does that feel like?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Dipper admitted.

“No wonder sleep deprivation is such a great torture technique. I almost feel bad about using it…” he paused for a moment before enunciating, “almost.”

“Hey,” Dipper said, poking Bill in the face with the handle of his spoon, “It’s breakfast time. Humans eat breakfast after they wake up,” Dipper thought for a moment, “Well, so long as they wake up before lunch… The first meal you eat after you wake up, intending to stay awake, sometime before noon, is breakfast. Brunch is at eleven.”

“Fine,” Bill said, snatching the spoon from Dipper’s hand as he was distracted by his thoughts and pulling his bowl in front of him, “I’ll eat breakfast.” Dipper was about to yell at him for stealing his food, but it was too late. Bill already started to eat his cereal, but it didn’t last long. “This is terrible,” he complained, “It’s just a sad wheat soup.”

“Bill, it’s cereal. Not soup. Now, give it back,” Dipper commanded as he reached for his bowl, but Bill held it away from.

“I’m sorry, Pinetree. What do you want back?” Bill instigated with a mischievous smile.

“Bill,” Dipper rolled his eyes, agitated, “Just give me my goddamn cereal,” he ordered, trying to take it from his hands, but missing.

“I don’t have cereal. I have soup. You’re wrong there, Pinetree,” he smiled, keeping the bowl away, amazingly not spilling a drop, “I’ll only give it back if you ask nicely.”

Dipper sat back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. Bill was a child; a trillion year old child in the body of an adult. “Bill, may I please have my soup back?”

“What kind of soup?” he asked. He was pushing it, he really was.

“My sad wheat soup,” Dipper grumbled.

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” Bill placed the bowl in front of Dipper and handed him his spoon with the grace of a snake.

“I don’t even want it anymore. It’s all soggy… and your tongue touched my spoon,” he faked an exaggerated disgusted shiver, even though he didn’t really mind the visual brought to his mind. He dumped the cereal down the sink and rinsed out his bowl, Bill casually watching him from his seat at the table. If the entire summer was going to be like this, he didn’t know if he could make it. “I’m going to shower,” he announced and turned to walk away before thinking better of it. He turned back around and told Bill in a serious tone, “Don’t set anything on fire while I’m gone. Don’t break anything, or kill anything. Just don’t touch anything in general,” he turned to walk away, but came back, “And I better not come back to find some kind of virgin sacrifice or I’ll be pissed.”

Bill scoffed and rolled his eyes, “You’re the closest virgin to sacrifice, so yeah, you probably would be pretty pissed.”

The fact that Bill knew that about him made him flustered for a second, “Just… Just behave!” he demanded and finally walked away.

Dipper took a quick shower and shaved afterwards; his face was getting pretty itchy. He left the bathroom in a pair of shorts, with the t-shirt he was planning on wearing slung over his shoulder, and one hand holding a towel that worked his hair in order to get it dry. He thought nothing of it, he always left the bathroom like this; he hated the way his hair would drip down his back and get his shirt all wet and make his back itchy. It wasn’t until he walked into the living room and had Bill look up at him that he felt completely exposed. He suddenly felt self-conscious of how skinny he was. He hadn’t been eating much for the past few years, and it showed in his slightly exposed ribs.

“So, showering… you’re supposed to do that every other day, give or take?” Bill asked, not noticing Dipper’s sudden shyness, trying to figure out how to get the tv to work.

Dipper quickly ran the towel through his hair a few more times and put his shirt on, throwing the towel onto the armchair, “Well you’re supposed to shower every day, but missing a day here or there won’t really kill you,” he explained, plopping down beside Bill on the couch, snatching the remote from his hand to turn the tv before a thought  
suddenly occurred, “Oh no… I don’t have to…” his flustered nerves returned, and Bill raised his eyebrows in curiosity, “I don’t have to teach you how to shower, do I?”

There was silence for a split second before Bill started to laugh, “Pinetree, I’m not a complete idiot. Did you forget that I was an all-knowing… well, all-knowing give or take a few things… demon of pure power and energy? I get how to do things like that. You don’t have to teach me how to shower!” he laughed. Dipper relaxed suddenly, but then heard Bill whisper, more or less not intending to be heard, “Unless you want to, of course.”

In order to ignore that and pretend that he never heard it, Dipper decided to teach Bill how to work the tv. The day mostly continued in that way: Dipper taught Bill how to do the simplest of tasks, some things Bill already understood, and Dipper tried to get him all caught up on how their culture worked. Apparently, Bill was an important figure in many cultures until he got stuck in Gravity Falls, so he was well versed in many different rituals of different cultures… their present culture was a little rusty though.

“What do you mean I can’t kill someone for making me mad?!” Bill demanded, confused.

“It’s what it means, how the hell did you even survive up to this point with that kind of mindset?!”

“I was a demon, Pinetree! Murdering to get ahead is what it’s all about! You know, you helped kill those things in the forest before!”

“That was self-defense!”

Bill scoffed and dismissed him with a wave of his hand, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

They both sat back, the conversation over. Dipper didn’t care to smother a yawn and checked the time. It was a little past midnight, he and Bill had been arguing about aspects of different cultures for quite some time. He stood up and stretched.

“I’m going to bed…” he announced, before realizing something, “Oh hey, are you okay with sleeping on the couch? I totally forgot to make up the other room… If not, we can switch…” Dipper trailed off when he noticed the odd expression that Bill wore, “What?”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to sleep?” he asked gently, tone implying concern.

“What?” Dipper asked, confused, “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Those nightmares you were having… Pinetree, I know what it’s like when someone is absolutely horrified. You were beyond even that… And the way you gritted your teeth, it was like you were furious.”

Dipper dismissively waved his hand, “Yeah, that happens, but I’ll be fine. It’s nothing new, alright?” he was slightly embarrassed that his nightmares were such a concern. He kept them a secret from everyone else, although it might have been obvious by how tired he seemed, and knowing that Bill cared enough to ask about them made his face very slightly redden.

“There is no way in this soul sucking void of a dimension that you’re going to be ‘fine.’ How much sleep do you even get?” he asked, yawning at the end to punctuate how sleep was important.

Dipper sat back down on the couch, hunched over and tired, “I get enough, alright? What is it going to take to convince you that I’m fine?”

“Look, these are probably reoccurring nightmares, right?” Dipper nodded. “They’re not going to just go away on their own, which you’ve probably noticed. The only way I’m letting you sleep is if you stay down here. I can’t actually offer you any help, considering my power meter running on empty, but at least I’ll be here for when you wake up crying.”

Dipper blinked a few times, confused, “Bill… are you offering me… emotional support?”

“Don’t say it like that. I just won’t be able to sleep if you’re some emotional wreck, alright. This is for me, not you,” he tried to explain.

Dipper raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t really sure if he believed his reasoning, but then again, what ulterior motives could he have? “Alright, fine,” Dipper conceded. He laid down on the couch and put his feet up in Bill’s lap, being as obnoxious as possible and doing his best to take up all the space. If Bill wasn’t going to let him leave, he was at least going to be comfortable. What Dipper didn’t expect was just how comforting it was to know someone was beside him.

Dipper had nightmares, of course. He woke up crying and screaming Mabel’s name, telling her that he was sorry. She didn’t answer, of course, but Bill was there. It was very early in the morning, so perhaps Dipper was wrong when he woke up the next day thinking that he remembered Bill holding him close and whispering things like, “It’s okay, I’m here.” and “Everything is going to be fine.” What was indisputable was that they woke up sprawled over one another. Luckily, Dipper was the first to wake up so he was able to quietly and carefully move from lying on top of Bill’s chest. What he didn’t know though, was that Bill had actually woken up about ten minutes before him and spent the time very gently running his fingers through Dipper’s hair and smiling softly to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	11. A Plan?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill thinks he has a plan to stop the nightmares...

“I think I know how to stop the nightmares.”

Dipper lifted his head from his pillow. It had been two days since the previous events. He was unsure if it counted as flirting when he insisted that they stop sleeping on the couch together and move to his bed. He wasn’t even sure if Bill insisting that they cuddle every night counted as flirting. The guy didn’t even know that it was frowned upon to commit mass homicide, so he probably didn’t grasp the idea of flirting, so Dipper was probably safe… right? He just couldn’t handle lying on those messed up springs for one more night. 

Flirting or not, Dipper had to admit that Bill looked adorable in his clothes. Obviously, they had to share up until they decided they felt like going into town. Bill only had what he originally arrived in. (Dipper pretended that it wasn’t weird to share his boxers with him, knowing that Bill learned by example. So if Dipper let on how unusual it was, Bill would have latched on to how uncomfortable it made him feel in an attempt to make it worse. Hey, it wasn’t really that bad. Dipper washed his clothes.) Dipper couldn’t help but to think that it was cute when Bill cuffed his jeans in order to have them fit, Dipper’s legs being surprisingly long. Other than that they were thankfully about the same size.  
They had just woken up a few minutes ago. Well, Dipper woke up first, as always, (or so he thought) to move himself from off of Bill’s chest or out of his arms. It was easier to do now that they had more space on the queen sized bed. They were in the middle of that time in between waking up and getting up where you lay in bed, trying to go back to sleep although you know you’ll eventually get up in a few more minutes. Dipper had been lying on his stomach, cuddling the pillow under his head, but Bill was sitting up, staring into space as he thought.

Dipper had lifted his head at Bill’s words, confused, “You… what?”

“I think I know how to stop your nightmares,” Bill repeated, tone serious, still staring into space.

Dipper pushed himself up and twisted so he was sitting upright, “What? How?” he asked quickly, his mind still a little foggy.

“We need to find the thing that killed Mabel…” he stated plainly, but then turned to meet Dipper’s eyes, “And we need to kill it.”

Dipper’s eyes widened, “What? We can’t… we can’t do that…”

“Look, if you avenge her death, you’ll stop feeling so guilty. The nightmares will go away, but only if you kill it, though. You have to do it. You have to avenge her death and maybe then you’ll stop blaming yourself. Plus, I know you’re not just scared. I know you’re angry at whatever did this to her. You want revenge, even if you don’t know you know it.”

“Bill… I… don’t think that I can…” Dipper mumbled, shaking his head.

Bill was obviously confused, “Why not? Don’t you want to avenge your sister?”

“Of course I do… but…” Dipper sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Nothing I can do will stop them. I tried so many different things already, alright? There’s no point in trying anymore. I’m done. I’ve learned how to live with them. I’m fine,” he explained.

Bill scrunched his eyebrows, “Pinetree… that’s bullshit.” Dipper was taken aback by this response, but Bill continued, “You wake up three times a night screaming and crying and punching the air. If I wasn’t here, you would probably only get two hours of sleep, maybe less. Don’t you dare tell me that you’re fine with living like this, and don’t you dare tell me that you’ve given up. What happened to stop you from chasing every secret and mystery that you could find? Are you really fine with letting your sister’s killer go unknown and stalk through the forest just because you ‘don’t think you can.’?”

“Bill, my sister is dead. I know you don’t understand what it’s like to feel these emotions, but-”

“Trust me, I felt it all when you first came back. Yeah, it feels terrible, but you’re not even trying to fix how you feel? Why are you fine with all this guilt and sadness and anger weighing on you? Why are you doing nothing to help yourself? It’s been five years, but you spent it locking up your mind in all your guilt!” Bill scolded.

“Bill, I was depressed. I have anxiety and panic attacks regularly now. Do you even know that I was suicidal for a large part of those five years?” Dipper admitted. He never told that to anyone. He had no friends and his parents would’ve just put him on more medication. They probably would have started watching his wrists, like he was just going to start cutting one day; a complete time bomb, just waiting to go off. It’s not that he ever made an attempt, but he considered it frequently at one point in his life. 

“Sure, sure, blame it on your ‘depression and anxiety,’ but no one can help you if don’t try to help yourself. You’re not even trying to fix things. You’re fine with having your life wasting away because it’s the easiest thing that you can do,” Bill was obviously frustrated. He got out of bed and threw his hands in the air exasperatedly, “Try to actually give a shit about yourself for once,” he turned towards the door and grumbled, “I’m going to take shower.”

With that, he left, leaving Dipper sitting on the bed, looking down and feeling ashamed with a few tears escaping his eyes. Damn, no wonder everyone walked on eggshells around him. He really was some kind of a time bomb, ready to just start crying and self-loathing at any possible moment. He had just fallen into a routine of not even trying, that it didn’t even occur to him he could actually change things if he tried hard enough. He couldn’t completely blame himself though, right? His sister had died… five years ago. He spent five years staring into space… and crying every night from his nightmares… He was so used to it, he didn’t even know what a normal night felt like…

So it was his fault. He could have tried but decided that he was fine being pitied every second of his life. He was fine with being left alone and ignored because it was easier. What was the point of fighting when he didn’t even have anything to fight for? And now… Now Bill hated him. So much for being looked up to. He knew he was in the wrong, but his world was crashing down on him, and he couldn’t just ignore it anymore. Everything was piling up around him and he couldn’t find a way to break through it anymore. He was completely trapped… it was so dark… his chest was so tight… he couldn’t breathe.

Dipper realized that he was having a panic attack a little later than he would have liked. His chest hurt and air refused to enter his lungs. He panted and cried as he tried to get a grip on his mind, but couldn’t. How could he when his life was just one big attempt at being pitied? He instinctively had a hand on his chest, while the other twisted around in the blankets as he tried to breathe. He needed to calm down. He needed to focus on his breathing, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t… He couldn’t…

“Pinetree?!” 

Dipper heard the shout echo through the room suddenly. He tried to somehow convey to Bill what was happening, but his mind was still in a jumble. Suddenly, the bed moved under new weight, and Bill’s arms were Dipper. The comfort it brought wasn’t enough though.

“It’s okay,” he whispered as he held him close, “It’s okay, you’ll be okay.” Dipper tried to focus on his words, burying his face in his shoulder, “You’re not alone. Hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that and breathe.”

Dipper did as he was instructed. The sound of the calm beating of Bill’s heart was soothing in itself, but then they began to slowly breathe in and out with one another. Dipper did his best to match his slow breaths, his breath occasionally catching and falling back into chaos, but Bill wouldn’t let him go until he was breathing on his own. It went on for about ten minutes. When the tension in Dipper’s body finally eased, he knew that he had finally made it through.

Dipper felt embarrassed when Bill finally let him go. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes, which he seemed to be doing a lot recently, and did his best to not make eye contact as he laid back down and flung his arm over his eyes. 

“You’re right,” Dipper admitted, sighing and shaking his head. He felt so stupid. He couldn’t believe that Bill saw him break down like that. He wondered if Bill was getting sick of watching him cry, knowing that he personally was annoyed with it constantly happening ever since he allowed himself to start feeling again.

When Bill didn’t respond, Dipper sat up to meet his eye for the first time since he returned to the room and to repeat his statement. What he didn’t expect to see was Bill kneeling on the bed, shirtless, and with a look of the deepest concern etched onto his face. “What…?” he started.

Dipper raised his eyebrows. Did Bill not actually understand? “It was a panic attack,” Dipper stated dismissively, “It’s okay, they’ve been happening since I was a kid.”

“You mean since Mabel died?” Bill asked quietly.

Dipper mumbled, “Yeah, I have meds for them, but I just haven’t been taking them recently. I’ve learned to live with them. They’re fine- I’m fine…”

Suddenly, Dipper’s babbling came to a halt when Bill reached up and put his hand on Dipper’s cheek, searching his eyes as he said, “There’s nothing ‘fine’ about that happening to you…”

Dipper could feel his face become hot as Bill continued to lock eyes with him. _“Oh god,”_ Dipper thought, his mind in a frenzy, _“Why is he looking at me like this? Ah shit, I want to kiss him right now. I want to kiss him so bad, there’s no more denying this. Oh god, my face is probably so red right now. What is he doing? Who gave him the right to be an absolute jerk to me and then suddenly act like I’m the most important thing to him in the world? It’s only been like three seconds I need to calm down. Shit, he can probably feel my heart racing. My face is so hot, how is his hand not burning? Oh god, I want to kiss him. What is he doing? Maybe if I start to lean in, he’ll understand… Oh god, I can’t even move.”_  
It only lasted about six seconds before Bill pulled his hand away from Dipper’s red cheek. Dipper knew he felt disappointed, but he also found himself feeling embarrassed again. He couldn’t believe the gears in his mind had switched so quickly. Also, he couldn’t believe that in that moment, he realized that he finally had to admit to himself that he did have a crush on Bill. _“I’m so stupid. This is stupid,”_ Dipper berated as he watched Bill’s body move as he found and put on a clean shirt. The red of his face was not fading as quickly as he wished it would.  
Bill turned to face him and held out his hand with a small smile on his face, “Come on,” he said gently, “Let’s go eat some sad wheat soup.”

Returning the smile, Dipper took his hand, was helped off the bed, and then led to the kitchen.

***

“A smart first move?” Bill asked hypothetically, “I would say, get the journals.”

Dipper sat next to Bill at the kitchen table. Their empty bowls were pushed to the opposite end, out of the way. Dipper held his head in his hand as he listened to Bill explain their plan for finding the monster that killed Mabel. “The journals?” he said with the inflection of a question. He would have to dig up the combinations to their hiding places and then go to the trouble of actually finding all their hiding places.

“I know that Fordsy said that he didn’t know what did this, so it probably won’t be in the journals, but what would it hurt to have a couple of tricks up our sleeves?

“Can I… trust you with the journals?” Dipper asked carefully, “You almost killed us over destroying them once.”

Bill scoffed, “I’ve been telling you the secrets I know left and right. What would be the point when all they know are things you’re eventually going to learn anyways?”

Dipper thought for a moment, before thinking this logic to be solid, “Yeah, sure. I’ll get them.”

“Make sure you get all four.”

Dipper looked up to meet Bill’s eye. He was smiling slightly mischievously. Dipper scoffed, “Pfft. My journal isn’t going to help us much. Besides… I left it up in the attic…”

Bill’s expression changed slightly, “Well… if you don’t want to…”

“No, no,” Dipper interrupted, “If you think it’ll help. I’ll be fine,” he stated, shrugging. He didn’t know if it was a lie or not. He knew he was going to have to eventually go up to the attic; if he was going to try to fix his life, he couldn’t leave any stone unturned. He might as well go up as soon as possible and get it out of the way. 

Bill smiled, almost looking proud, but Dipper disregarded it.

***

The journal search took the morning and half of the afternoon. Ford had decided to be very complex and difficult with how he hid them, trusting Dipper to be smart enough to decipher his riddles. It was refreshing to be slightly overestimated, but at the same time, so extremely exhausting. After lunch, Dipper had finally come to the point in which he would go into the attic for the first time in five years. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, mentally bracing himself.

“You know, you don’t have to do this if you-” Bill started.

“No, I’ll be okay,” Dipper quickly assured, “Just… come with me.” Dipper interlaced his fingers with Bill’s. Did asking for emotional support count as flirting? Probably not, right?

They ascended the stairs, hand in hand, and eventually came up to the door that led to the attic bedroom. Ford had said that they mostly left the attic untouched over the years. Prepared for grief, Dipper took a deep breath and opened the door.

The first thing that Dipper did… was smile. He was hit by a huge amount of nostalgia, all positive memories. Laughter, smiling, stupid jokes and antics; every silly thing they did over the summer came back to him. The room smelled a little musty, but it always did. Two bare mattresses sat on two bed frames on the opposite sides of the room. Mabel’s posters were still on the wall above her bed, a few were dropping from being neglected for so long. Dipper noticed something underneath her bed and went over to investigate, still holding onto Bill’s hand.

The object was soft and he slid it out from under the bed. He was met with the motif of a shooting star. It was Mabel’s sweater. Dipper held it close as he thought. Mabel probably would have be prom queen, with a dress that she made herself, sparkling with glitter and little flowers. She probably would sell her creations online, never running out of fun things to do. She would have had tons of friends and dozens of boyfriends, hopefully kicking most of them to the curb instead of being heartbroken; even through her heartbreak, she would have smiled. But she couldn’t do any of those things because Dipper got her killed. She didn’t get to live her life, make hard choices, really grow, and it was all Dipper’s fault. He got her killed, he failed as a brother, he…

Bill squeezed his hand, as he had been staring at the sweater for far too long. Dipper met his eye and smiled grimly, tucking the sweater under his arm. He was there for his journal. They crossed the room over to Dipper’s side. He couldn’t remember exactly where he had put it, so he started opening the drawers on his end table, looking under the bed, and then the mattress itself. Basically, he destroyed his part of the room. 

Search fruitless, he looked in the closet. Apparently, it’s the one part of the attic that the Stan’s did touch, so Dipper had to paw around a bunch of junk until he finally found his journal in the very back. It was dusty and grimy, but generally just as he had left it. After one last glance at Mabel’s side of the room, the two left. 

In the hallway, Dipper let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He put his journal under his arm and brought his free hand up to cover his face as he calmed down. He didn’t cry, and that fact was shocking in itself. He really didn’t realize how on edge he was until he was out of the situation, but he survived emotionally unscathed. 

“Hey…” Bill started, shaking Dipper from his thoughts.

“No, I’m… I’m okay,” he said, the sentence actually being true for the first time in his life.

He took the journal and sweater out from underneath his arm, smiled at the glittering shooting star, and then the two went back downstairs. He was determined to finally take the steps towards fixing himself. He was sick and tired of the apathy he was drowning in for the past five years. It was time he cared and started trying. It wasn’t right to be okay with everything wrong with him, and he was starting to realize that he really didn’t want to be able to live with it all. He was going to avenge Mabel, stop the nightmares and the guilt, and try to find peace with his self. But… did he even deserve peace?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	12. A Detour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go exactly as planned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: upcoming scenes may cause anxiety or tension  
> I remember when I was actively writing this, like a year ago, and I was stuck on this chapter for the longest time. I can't remember why exactly, I think it was because I wasn't sure what events to add to it and how to help along the story progression, but I eventually was just hit with that writing bug and I finally cranked this out after like two months of sitting around and trying to make charts and graphs about my story's plot. Good times. I may go back to those times after I post the last chapter I have finished too. Who knows?

Dipper tried to keep himself calm. He had previously downed some of his anxiety medicine, making sure he wasn’t going to break down right then and there on the forest floor, although slightly begrudgingly. He was tired of micromanaging his emotions, but knew that it would take time to bring himself into normalcy and reality. Plus, he was sick. It may even take years to get better. Emotional damage and trauma don’t just disappear. 

They walked through the wooden giants. Their fingers stretched high into the sky, mottling out the calm blue of the young summer sky. The smell in the air was calming, a mixture of pine and fresh air, and it was almost relaxing to be outside in the familiarity. He was reminded of his first day back in Gravity Falls, when he was hit with far more pleasing memories than bad, considering how they outnumbered the latter. Eventually, however, he started to feel slightly claustrophobic. His situation began to weigh on him.

“Is this even going to work?” Dipper asked as he dragged his hands down his face, trying to distract himself through conversation. He didn’t mean to be pessimistic, but he was a realist, and the whole idea suddenly seemed farfetched, “Do we even have a plan? Are we just going to run around screaming ‘Hey, thing that killed Mabel, come and get us!’” Dipper exaggerated, “I mean…” he sighed, feeling defeated, “I don’t even understand how we even expect to go about this. We’re going after some elusive never-before-seen super monster. We don’t even know why it killed Mabel… and we don’t even know if it’s still in Gravity Falls!”

“Look, Pinetree, you probably won’t understand this, but I’m about ninety-eight percent human, and-”

“Wait, what? I thought you said you were completely human?” Dipper crossed his arms as he slowed his walking pace, “Are you lying to me again?”

“No,” Bill sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before mumbling, “I told you that you probably won’t understand…” he dropped his hand and straightened his back, “I’m as human as anyone else. I’m as human as you, as human as everyone in town, as human as everyone in the world. The thing is that everyone who’s human isn’t actually completely human. Everyone has the capability of a ‘sixth sense.’ Don’t ask why, I probably knew at one point but this stupid brain makes me forget things unless they’re immediately important.”

“Okay… but what does that mean… exactly?”

“My sixth sense is a little more finely tuned than usual because I actually know how to use it, so maybe I’m ninety-six percent human,” he thought out loud and then shrugged, “Anyways, I can feel things and I know how to discern what I’m feeling. Pinetree, I can feel that this thing is still here somewhere, I just don’t know where.”

Dipper was silent for a moment. This thing had been out in this forest for years. What has it been doing all this time? Were the Stan’s constantly in danger for the past years? Were they in danger from it right now?

“But…” Dipper asked, his face scrunched up in confusion, “Why? What does it want?” 

“It’s here because it wants me,” Bill enunciated, pointing at himself, “It always has and it always will.”

“Then why the hell did it go after Mabel?” Dipper asked as he threw up his hands, almost challenging Bill’s hypothesis. Feeling completely confused and drained, he hung his head low.

“I… I don’t know,” Bill answered. 

His voice sounded wrong… off… and it prompted Dipper to look up with confusion still painted on his face, “Are you… lying?” he asked. Bill had lied to him many times before, but he had never made it so obvious.

“What?” he suddenly looked nervous, “No, of course not.”

It was completely obvious that he was lying. _“He’s not used to having a physical body with facial expressions and body language he needs to watch.”_

“Bill… if you know something, you have to tell me,” Dipper pressed.

“What? I don’t know what-”

“Bill,” Dipper said firmly as he stood up, looking him in his eye, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Bill’s face looked conflicted for a moment. He searched Dipper’s face as he thought, weighing his options. He eventually sighed in defeat and ran his hands down his face. “Fine, look, if you really want to know…” he sighed again and then met his eyes, “It-” his expression suddenly changed as he paused at the beginning of this sentence. His eyes snapped to somewhere behind Dipper as his whole body tensed.

Dipper was about to ask what was wrong before Bill walked behind him. Dipper turned around to have Bill put his arm out protectively in front of his chest, and he glared into the distance. The air was still and the forest was quiet, making Bill’s actions seem out of place.

“Bill… what’s wrong?” Dipper asked quietly, his voice cutting through the gentle air, making Bill tense.

“Something’s coming.”

With that simple answer, Dipper’s nerves suddenly multiplied. He shrunk into himself, his throat suddenly seeming a little more narrow than before. He swallowed nervously, and looked around in quick stiff movements as he carefully and slowly moved himself closer to Bill. He held his breath as he waited, bracing himself for movement or a sound, but nothing came.

“What… is it?” Dipper whispered softly.

Bill’s eye narrowed as he swept it along the trees, “I don’t know…” he said, reaching behind him to grip Dipper’s arm, reassuring himself that he was close, and making Dipper feel safer, “but… it’s coming.”

They stood together for a few moments more until trees started to shake. Both boys tensed and moved closer to one another as they watched, hearts pounding, as a figure emerged from the trees. It was very familiar.

“Cipher,” it grumbled in disbelief, voice deep and gravelly yet somehow full of mucus. Neither of the two made any move, so the bear/boar beast moved closer, “We all thought you were dead…” it prodded, confused, yet with a slightly predatory tone.

“Well I’m here,” Bill stated harshly and territoriality, “Tell all your friends that this town is still mine.”

The monster made a sound that was almost like laughing, but more thick and rumbling, “We can feel your power loss, Cipher,” it informed viciously, “We’re not afraid of you.”

Dipper could tell that Bill was angered by that, even without looking at his face. “How dare you!” he spat.

The monster had a point though. Bill was human. “Bill…” Dipper whispered weakly, “Don’t tick off the Boar Bear…”

Another rumbling and mucus filled laugh sounded from the Boar Bear, “And you still have the kid?” its nostrils flared as it took in a deep breath, and it was obviously satisfied by what it smelled, “The same one too? How did it survive-”

Bill cut him off, “Leave right now,” he glared, “Go tell your friends that I’m back,” he straightened his back, squaring his shoulders, “ I’ll be picking up where I left off and I’ll show no mercy to those who step out of line,” he threatened viciously, standing his ground. 

Another laugh, “And how do you expect to do that, Cipher?” it challenged, smelling the air again and chuckling to itself, “You're human.”

Suddenly, Bill whispered to Dipper, “Be ready to move.” Dipper squeezed his arm to acknowledge that he understood. Now, loud and clear to the Boar Bear, “I’m warning you,” he growled, trying to remain confident, “Don’t challenge me.” 

The Boar Bear braced its legs as it laughed and lowered its head. To Dipper, everything moved in slow motion as he scanned his eyes over the monster in front of him. He could see the muscles in its legs tense, the animalistic yet vaguely human smile that curved along its lips, and its eyes that darkened as it pushed off the ground, launching itself into a charge. A hand squeezed his upper arm as he was yanked sideways, into the trees. His eyes followed the Boar Bear’s path, its clawed feet kicking up dirt as it thundered forwards, while the rest of his body followed his shoulder’s path.

Suddenly, Dipper’s mind came into clarity as he and Bill tumbled behind some trees, landing on top of one another as a loud crash was elicited from the Boar Bear missing its targets and ramming itself headfirst into tree trunks. 

The panic already started rising in Dipper’s chest before they even hit the ground, and fully evident in his eyes soon after. His breathing started getting faster as they both tried to sit up and sort themselves out. Bill quickly noticed his worsening state.

_“Damnit,”_ Dipper yelled at himself in his mind, _“We don’t have time for this.”_

But it was too late. His breathing came heavier, hands beginning to shake as his mind started to cloud. 

“Hey,” Bill said, putting his hands over top of Dipper’s. They met eyes, Bill’s calm and matching his small smile, “This guy is nothing,” he reassured coolly, “I’ll stop him, no problem, just like before.” 

“But-” Dipper started. Bill had his powers before. Now he was just a human… a human who didn’t even understand what it meant to be human… but Dipper couldn’t articulate his thoughts, not through the cloud in his mind. Cold sweat started to bead up on his forehead and down his back. 

Bill got closer, their foreheads nearly touching, “You’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. Just stay here and close your eyes and try to calm down. It’ll be over before you know it.” 

Dipper shook his head, unable to put his thoughts into words. How was he going to stop him? What if he got hurt? It would be all Dipper’s fault, just like before with Mabel. 

“Don’t worry,” Bill reassured. Suddenly, a loud crack echoed in the clearing, making Bill take his eye off of Dipper’s and turn his head for a quick moment. It seemed the Boar Bear had freed itself from the tree. When he returned his gaze, Dipper could’ve sworn he saw a glint of fear or panic, “It’s fine,” Bill laughed. Dipper could hear a waver in his voice. “You just stay hidden, okay? Close your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere else. It’ll be over soon,” he spoke quickly, glancing behind them, but looked towards him again and smiled, bringing his hand to rest against Dipper’s cheek for a moment, “You’ll be fine,” he repeated dismissively, and then stood up, leaving Dipper in the trees. 

Suddenly alone, panic still sitting in his chest, Dipper scrambled to lean against the back of a tree. His heart was pounding, stomach in knots. He couldn’t lose Bill too. He couldn’t be alone again. He didn’t know if he could live with himself if he caused the death of another person he cared about. 

“Cipher,” the monster spoke and after a pause asked, “What happened to your little friend?” 

“Oh,” Bill answered with a confident and cocky voice, sounding like his old self, “The kid’s long gone from here.” 

“What made you concern yourself with human affairs, Cipher?” the monster asked, although more to himself. After a beat of silence, he growled, “No matter, I’m fine with settling with killing only you.” 

The words shot fear in Dipper’s chest, and the following noises of crashing and grunting brought his breathing to near gasps. He slammed his head against the tree, closing his eyes. _“You have to calm down,”_ he told himself, covering his face with his hands, _“Bill said he would be fine. I have to believe him.”_

Why did the monster have to be so obsessed with them? Why couldn’t it leave them alone? They weren’t here for it, they were trying to find Mabel’s killer. They were going to avenge her death. It would stop his nightmares. It would stop his self-loathing. It had to. There was no other way to assuage his guilt. 

There was another chorus of crashing noises. Dipper winced, and tried to block it out. What would he do if Bill died? Beyond the fact that he would have to try to find his way back home with an angry beast on his heels. He would be left alone again. In the beginning, that sounded appealing to him. Silence… free from judging looks and remarks. But now, that nothingness sounded like a deafening force. All consuming loneliness. He spent years being alone in his head, talking to Bill made him realize that, and he couldn’t go back to it. He couldn’t go back to the stale unmoving air of inaction. He couldn’t lose Bill too. He couldn’t. He needed him. 

Why did he even care so much about Dipper? Because they were friends? Did Bill even grasp the concept of friendship? Was he just confused? What did he gain from helping him? What was the point? Was he curious? Whatever he wanted, there was no way he was going to get it from Dipper. As soon as he realized that, he was going to leave him. No matter what happened, Dipper was going to be left alone. It was just a matter of how long it took… 

There was a loud crack, jolting Dipper from his thoughts. He opened his eyes as he jumped, taking in his surroundings again. He remembered that Bill was fighting off a monster for his sake, risking his life. The whole reason why they were in this mess was because Bill offered a way to help him stop his nightmares. He was doing this because he cared about him. He really did actually care. Memories of Bill’s reassuring smile and words flooded through Dipper’s mind. He could almost feel his hand lying gently across his cheek just from remembering how it felt. No, Bill cared about him. He wouldn’t just leave him. He cared about him. He cared about him. He… he… 

Instead of sounds of battle overlapping his thoughts, there was silence. This unusual silence brought him out of his mind and back into reality. He was calmer than before, but stillness and the questions hanging in the air brought his anxiety back. He slowly stood up, an arm against the tree to support him. He cautiously peered into the clearing. The trees were scraped and scarred, the ground was kicked up, and… there was blood. Dipper’s breath caught in his throat. There was a lot of blood. The returning panic made him rush to the edge of the clearing for a better look. He scanned his eyes over the mess, feeling relieved when he spotted Bill leaning against a tree. He hurried to where he stood. 

“Hey Pinetree,” Bill laughed, but weakly, “I told you it was no big deal.” 

Dipper had to restrain himself from hugging him, realizing that most of the blood staining his clothes was his. 

“God…” Dipper whispered, taking in his wounds. 

“Not even close anymore, but I appreciate the compliment,” Bill chuckled, but then winced. It was obvious that laughing was painful. 

“We have to get home,” Dipper said. Bill was holding onto his arm, and Dipper pulled his hand away to look at the gash. 

“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea,” Bill replied. At least he was feeling okay enough to remember to be a sarcastic ass. 

Together, they left behind the carnage of the clearing. Dipper didn’t dare to glance at the bloody body of the Boar Bear sitting off to the side. Bill had a slight limp and leaned on Dipper for support as they walked together. Dipper didn’t even know who he was addressing when he repeated, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” over and over in his mind. Obviously there was no God looking over him or his family, but at least the universe decided to not take away the one good thing to happen to him in years. 

They limped back in silence, save for the occasional grunt. The silence was just as foreboding as before. The Boar Bear wasn’t the answer they were looking for, but at least it wouldn’t bother them again. At least… Dipper assumed that Bill somehow managed to kill it. It was a gorey mess, but who knows if it was just Bill’s blood being smeared everywhere. What kind of damage could a now-human chaos god really do to such a brute? He was lucky he wasn’t cut in half by its tusks. He was lucky he was able to get away at all. He was lucky that Dipper was even there in the first place to help him in _his_ time of need… Dipper was lucky that Bill finally came to him in his time of need… That he was willing to put his life on the line for him… 

They walked home together, leaning on one another for strength. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	13. The First Step Towards Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More than one person begins their healing process...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Screaming for reasons you'll eventually understand*

They made it back to the shack in about half an hour. Immediately, Dipper helped Bill onto the couch and then ran to get the first aid kit and a washcloth to clean the blood and dirt out of his wounds. When he walked into the living room, Bill chuckled.

“I would say I’ve had worse wounds…” he said, lifting his hand to look at the gash on his arm and grimacing, “But I haven’t.”

“That’s because you’re an _idiot_ ,” Dipper insulted harshly, contrasting the care he took in gently dabbing the gash on his arm. It went nearly from his wrist to his elbow on his right forearm, but it thankfully didn’t seem deep enough to need stitches; however, that didn’t stop it from bleeding. “Why didn’t you just run away?! You could’ve been killed!”

Bill scoffed, “Please. I’m invincible,” but directly after making the statement, he winced at the pressure on his arm.

“Yeah. _Invincible_ ,” Dipper mocked, “You’re human, Bill.” Dipper cleaned the wound out, dabbed it with antiseptic, and bandaged it, “How bad is your chest?” he asked, claw marks visibly torn into his shirt.

“Eh, it kind of burns and it hurts to breathe, but other than that-” suddenly, he coughed a few times, and then clutched his chest, “Ow, shit…” he mumbled softly, “Being human isn’t fun…”

Dipper wanted to roll his eyes, but Bill was quite literally feeling the worst pain of his entire life, so he was going to cut him some slack. Plus, it was all his fault anyways and Bill saved his life, so he should probably be nice to the guy. 

Dipper closed his eyes slowly and sighed. As he opened them again he said, “Alright, take your shirt off, let me see how bad it is.”

As Bill reached behind his head to tug off his shirt, he suddenly winced again and clutched his bicep with other hand, “Damnit, I should not have bashed its head in with so much force. Pinetree, help me.”

“Help you?” Dipper asked, blinking. Bill wanted him to take his shirt off.

“Yeah, help me,” he repeated, unabashed, “My arm is broken or torn or something, I don’t know. I’m more used to causing injuries than diagnosing them, Pinetree.”

_“Don’t make it weird,”_ Dipper told himself, _“He’s hurt and you’re helping him. That’s it.”_ But no matter how much he repeated that, his face still got a little red as he ran his hands over Bill’s torso and chest, “Fuck.”

“And this was my favorite shirt too,” Dipper murmured out loud, trying to distract from how he felt with humor, “And now it’s covered in blood and… oh man…” The marks on his chest looked pretty gnarly. It was probably just from how the blood and dirt was drying, because the bleeding was actually slower than he expected, “Shit, Bill…” Dipper whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Bill asked, “It was about time I got rid of that thing,” he said dismissively.  
Dipper rinsed out the washcloth and grabbed Bill a fresh shirt before he cleaned up the wound. It was shallower than he thought it would be, but that wouldn’t stop it from hurting, and it seemed like it hurt a lot. 

“You could’ve died…” Dipper whispered as he dabbed some antiseptic onto the scratches.

“But I didn’t,” Bill stated with a slight shrug, “I told you I’d be fine, okay? I was right.”

“That’s not-” Dipper started, but he stopped. He didn’t have the energy to fight at the moment. 

He put gauze bandages over the deepest part of the wounds. He wasn’t a doctor nor a nurse, but he felt like the dressings would suffice for the time being, and hopefully Bill would be safe from infection. He had a small cut on his forehead near his hairline, so Dipper put a little of the antiseptic on it too, just to be safe, but it looked like it would heal quickly. He did the same with small scrapes and cuts on his arms.

“Is that it?” Dipper asked, standing in front of him.

“Yeah,” Bill replied, “I’m glad, that liquid stuff stings like a bitch,” he remarked in regards to the antiseptic. He very gently put the fresh shirt on, careful of his arms and his chest.

“I… I’m sorry,” Dipper repeated, “This should’ve never happened.”

“Hey,” Bill started. He put his hands on Dipper’s waist, making him jump.

“What are you-” Dipper began to ask quickly.

Bill stood up, using his grip on his waist as leverage, “Thanks,” he said sincerely, meeting Dipper’s eyes.

“Well… Umm… You wouldn’t have had to do that if it wasn’t for me,” Dipper stammered slightly, taking a step away from him. Bill didn’t move his hands. Dipper could feel the red starting to take over his cheeks.

“It’s not your fault. Nothing was your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything. It was my idea to go out there,” Bill stated simply.

“But you did it for _my_ sake,” Dipper argued. He stepped away from Bill’s grip, “I put everyone I care about at risk and I never even mean to! I just attract this dangerous shit and everyone else ends up getting hurt instead of me! I got Mabel killed because I wasn’t looking out for her, I got you mauled because for some godforsaken reason you decided to care about me!” Dipper took a moment to calm down, “I don’t even know why that thing went after Mabel…” Dipper suddenly recalled his conversation with Bill before they were attacked by the Boar Bear. He looks towards him, “You know, don’t you?”

Bill bit on his lip and looked away for a moment, arms crossed, before he looked back and nodded, “Yeah. I know why.”

“Then why, Bill?” Dipper pleaded, “Why did it go after her?”

“It… was never trying to go after Mabel, okay? It was looking for you.”

Dipper started to shake his head. That didn’t make any sense. “No… I don’t understand. I-I… How do you even know that?”

“Do you remember…” he started slowly, breaking eye contact, voice sad, “when you found your hat near Mabel’s body?”

“Yeah…?” Dipper answered. He never thought about that deeply, too focused on Mabel to actually think about questioning it, but now that it was suddenly brought to his attention as being important, thoughts and questions began to fly through his mind.

“It was trying to find you, and by default, me, by following your scent. You and Mabel were so much alike that it found her instead.”

Dipper moved over to the couch and sat back, all the energy sapped from his body, “It was my fault,” he gasped, “It really was. I always felt like it was, like me not being there for her was the biggest mistake, but it’s so much worse than that.”

“No,” Bill said firmly, pulling Dipper off from the couch, putting his hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eyes, “This is not your fault,” he stated, “It never was. It never will be. No decision you’ve made led to Mabel’s death.” Dipper didn’t believe him, and broke their eye contact, but Bill put his hand on his cheek to get his attention again, “Pinetree…Dipper,” he enunciated, keeping his attention by using his real name, “This was never your fault. If you need someone to blame, then blame me, okay? This. Is not. Your fault.”  
Dipper broke away from his hands then, and walked a little bit away, keeping his back to Bill, “I’m sick of blaming myself… and I guess you are too, but I can’t help but feel like it’s all my fault when I should’ve been looking out for her!” he ran his hand through his hair, getting fed up with himself, “I'm so sick of being sad all the time... I'm sick of being anxious… I’m sick of nightmares… I'm sick of taking all those goddamn pills! I’m sick of being angry at myself and the world and that thing," Dipper noticed that he was getting choked up, "…and I'm so sick of always crying..." suddenly, his angry energy left him, and he felt defeated once more. He turned to meet Bill’s eye, but felt ashamed and looked towards the ground. He tightly shut his eyes as he fought back tears, "I don't want this anymore. I’m not okay with living with it. I want something to change. I want...” Dipper trailed off. What did he really want? “I want-"

Dipper's words were smothered before he even knew what they would be. The gentle pressure on his mouth made him open his eyes in surprise. After understanding quickly set in, he closed his eyes as sudden warmth spread across his cheeks. Bill's hands were gently laid against his cheeks and brushed away the tears that dared to escape from Dipper's eyes. Dipper held Bill’s shoulders and pulled him closer as he slowly began to move his lips as he kissed back. 

Dipper smiled softly against his lips as he slid his hands up around Bill’s neck, and Bill wrapped his arms around Dipper’s waist and pulled him closer. Dipper felt the tension in his body finally relax for the first time in years. His mind went blank, but not in the same empty way as it had before. He felt warm… and like he was wanted; two feelings that he didn’t think he would experience again, let alone anytime soon. 

Suddenly, Bill pulled away, looking confused and astonished, "Whoa, whoa, Pinetree. I… I-." He held up his hands and backed away slightly, looking at the ground, "I don't know how that happened, I didn't ..."

Bill looked up and caught Dipper's smile, cutting the excuse short. He put down his hands and they met eyes. Embarrassed, but still smiling, Dipper ran his hand through his hair and looked off to the side, "Bill... I..." Dipper laughed softly and shook his head in disbelief, "Yeah... That sure is a change."

Bill’s tone spoke of his surprise as he laughed gently as he shook his head, “I just… I’ve been wanting to do that a lot lately,” he admitted, “And I have no idea why. They do it in all the movies and it just… seemed right.”

Dipper’s face was still red and he chuckled, “You’re really not used to human emotions at all, are you?”

Bill ran his hand through his hair, as if he was embarrassed, “I know what it means, I just don’t know what it feels like… until it happens.”

Dipper moved closer and intertwined their fingers, although still a little hesitant and shy, “And…” he started, looking up to meet his eye, “How did that make you feel?”

Bill smiled, “Really warm,” he shrugged, “I usually feel warm around you though,” he admitted nonchalantly. He brought one of his hands up and gently ran his fingers through Dipper’s hair, “Especially when I wake up and you’re lying on top of me.”

Dipper blushed and he brought his free hand up to rest on Bill’s waist. He tilted his head slightly at the feeling of Bill’s fingers combing through his hair. “I thought I always woke up before you did… I tried to hide that.”

Bill laughed, “Please. Sleep is so foreign to me that I don’t even try to get much of it. It’s weird, going into a coma for hours on end, and on purpose too!” he chuckled, and then got a little quieter, “Plus… I like watching you sleep,” he shrugged, “I like seeing you at peace, when you’re done with your nightmares for the night. It makes being human worth it… to share with you all these feelings and sensations and sounds and sights. Seeing it through a human eye isn’t the same as it was before this all happened. Everything just seemed like a two dimension block of color and meat puppets, but now it’s actually… beautiful? Is that the word to use? I’ve never used it before…”

Bill smiled warmly. Dipper’s face was still slightly pink when he smiled back softly. He then gently rested his head against Bill’s chest, scoffing in disbelief at his own thoughts.

“What’s up, Pinetree?” Bill asked chuckling, resting his hand on his back.

Dipper sighed and shook his head, “I don’t know… I… just…” he buried his face in Bill’s shoulder, “Thanks for caring about me, I guess,” Dipper chuckled, “This is so stupid.”

Bill returned the gesture, putting his head on Dipper’s shoulder, running his fingers through his hair again, and gently laughing, “Nah, it’s fine… you’re welcome,” he paused for a moment, “That’s weird to say, people usually aren’t thanking me for things.”

Dipper pulled away from his chest and Bill did the same from his shoulder, “That’s because you’re a jerk,” Dipper stated, playfully smacking Bill on his shoulder.

“You can stop pretending like you don’t like me now,” Bill teased.

“Who said I was ever pretending?” Dipper retorted.

“Please…” Bill replied, taking his hand from out of his hair and putting it against his cheek, “I’ve seen your cheeks get red enough times to know.” With that, Dipper’s cheeks got red again. Had Bill really known all this time and he was just keeping it a secret? “See? Just like that. You can’t hide anything from me.”

Dipper pushed away from him and laughed, embarrassed, “You don’t understand emotions. You admitted that.”

“Well, sure,” Bill started, his voice low, putting his hands on Dipper’s hips, “I don’t understand how they actually feel, but I’ve been around long enough to understand people’s reactions.” Dipper’s face stayed red as Bill brought their bodies closer. He chuckled, “I know just what you’re feeling…” Dipper avoided eye contact, embarrassed by what Bill was insinuating, “…even if I don’t know what it feels like…” Bill smiled and pulled him even closer still, “Well… maybe I do.”

Dipper pushed him away, unsure if his face could burn any hotter than it did at that moment. He avoided eye contact and cleared his throat, “Umm,” he stammered, feeling embarrassed and flustered, “I… I’m going to go… take a shower…” he stated, and then turned and walked out of the living room.

He heard Bill laugh softly and call after him, “Okay, fine, I’ll be here when you get back.”

As Dipper walked to the bathroom, his mind raced, _“Did Bill just admit to being attracted to me? Ah, shit. He also admitted that he knows I’m attracted to him. But… he apparently knew the whole time? I don’t believe it, he’s not as all-knowing as he tries to let on and I know that for a fact. But still, he just kissed me. He fucking kissed me. He said he knows what it means. He made it obvious that he really does care about me… but to this extent? Fuck… is this jerk in love with me? Oh hell, am I in love with him? How the hell did I get to this point? Why did he have to kiss me?”_

Once in the bathroom, Dipper went through the mindless tasks of turning on the water, undressing, and getting into the shower. He tried to quiet his mind, but he couldn’t stop thinking, _“Okay… I’m actually glad he kissed me. I know I’ve wanted to kiss him on multiple occasions… I’m glad he was actually the one to start this…”_ he paused unsure, _“Still… what did I get myself into?”_

Dipper cleaned himself up, actually surprised at the amount of dirt smeared on his body. It must’ve been from when they fell behind the trees together. It must’ve been from when Bill saved his life. _“He really did save my life…”_ he thought as water streamed down his face, _“He really does care about me… and I’ve already admitted it to myself that I wouldn’t be able to handle him leaving me…”_ he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, _“Maybe… being in a relationship with him… wouldn’t actually be all that bad…”_ he shrugged to himself, _“I have zero dating experience… but… I mean… I’m attracted to him… and I’m going to assume he’s attracted to me. And obviously I care about him, and he cares about me,”_ Dipper smiled, letting the water rinse his body off one last time, _“Yeah… maybe a relationship… is actually a good idea.”_

He turned the water off and dried his body, then pulled his jeans on again. His shirt was actually pretty dirty, so he was going to change it. He left the bathroom, running his towel through his hair, and walked into the bedroom, nearly running into Bill, who was just about to leave.

Dipper suddenly felt awkward, but decided to cover it up with humor as he skimmed his eyes over the shirts in his closet, “I thought you said you were going to be in the living room when I came back, you liar.” It wasn’t very funny but it did its job.

“I just came in to change my bloodstained jeans,” he replied casually. There was a quick pause before he added, “I like how your hair looks when it’s wet. It’s different.”

Maybe it was paranoia, but he thought he could feel Bill’s eyes moving around his body. Self-conscious of the ribs that stuck out on his chest, he quickly picked out a shirt and tugged it on. “All the curls are plastered down. That’s why,” Dipper explained as he turned around and started to walk back to the door; however, Bill was leaning against the doorframe, watching him with a small smile on his face, not moving when Dipper approached him. Dipper stopped, “What?” he asked, feeling self-conscious again. He didn’t put his shirt on backwards or something, did he?

“Oh… It’s nothing...” he said gently, but not moving or taking his eyes off of him.

Dipper paused and crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and raised his eyebrows. What was he doing? “What?” Dipper repeated, a little bit of sass behind the word. He didn’t appreciate him staring at him and not explaining why.

“It’s just…” he started, moving away from the doorframe and putting his hand on Dipper’s cheek. Dipper dropped his arms and softened his expression. “I don’t know…” he answered truthfully.

Dipper, not for the first time, was hit with the urge to kiss him. In all honesty, it would be perfectly fine for him to act on this urge, considering how they more or less confessed their feelings for one another and Dipper agreed with himself, not even five minutes prior to the situation, that being in a relationship with Bill was something he was okay with, but for some reason he didn’t want to let himself. It was possibly because he was shy and awkward and didn’t really have a grasp on how kissing worked… But then, Dipper met Bill’s soft expression and small appreciative smile. An alike smile spread on his face, and he brought his hand up to rest against Bill’s, a feeling a warmth spreading his chest, along with a desire to be close to him. So, he decided to act on it. 

He gently put his hands on Bill’s waist, and paused for a moment, searching his face for any sign of disgust or an alike negative emotion… but he found none. He leaned in closer, relieved when Bill did the same, and closed his eyes as their lips met for the second time. Bill brought his other hand to the side of Dipper’s face, but then both of his hands slid down and he wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Dipper unconsciously moved his hands down to Bill’s hips as he gently pulled their bodies together, their stomachs touching, fulfilling his want to be close.

Dipper moved his lips cautiously at first, following Bill’s lead. Really, he’s been in a countless number of dreams so he must’ve learned how kissing works at some point in them. Actually feeling the emotions that went with it was what he admitted to being new to him. They gently tugged on one another’s lips as warmth blossomed in their chests, feeling a new closeness of which neither of them were familiar, but both enjoyed immensely. 

They pulled away a little later, their lips and faces still close, their breathing just slightly heavier. They opened their eyes slowly and scanned one another’s face, and felt as their own lips tingled slightly at the absence of the other’s. Together, they decided they didn’t want to pull apart, and closed their eyes again as their lips met again. They melted into one another, feeling safe and warm and happy with the other close to them. Their lips moved a little faster, but the kiss never moved away from being gentle and sweet.

When they pulled away again, they rested their foreheads against one another’s, smiling happily. Dipper moved his hands up Bill’s waist, mindful of his injuries, and Bill brought his hand to the side of Dipper’s face again, turning his head slightly so he could place a tender kiss on his other cheek. Dipper laughed softly at the gesture, and brought his hand to lay over his, and then intertwined their fingers on both hands.

It was Dipper’s realization that he would be fine with kissing him all day that lead him to believe that a relationship _really_ wouldn’t be that bad of an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Screaming, but now for reasons I'm sure you understand*
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	14. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A change of plans, a couple of unexpected visitors, and some revelations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter I have finished.

Some romance wasn’t enough to stop the nightmares. They came with the same unrelenting intensity and frequency as before. On the plus side, Dipper didn’t have to feel awkward about cuddling close to Bill, and when he inevitably woke up on top of him, he didn’t feel the need to move away. His panic attacks never really needed a stressor, it just so happened that they were triggered by something the last couple times, so he took his anxiety medication as prescribed and made sure to watch out for them. When he was hit by one, he always had Bill by his side to help him through it, and he could never ask for anything more than that.

Despite everything, the one thing that really changed… was that Dipper didn’t feel sad anymore. He understood that depression couldn’t just disappear after five years, but it was hard to feel unhappy when he was readily kissed by someone who looked at him like he was the most important thing in the world. Dipper realized that they were in that blindly happy stage in a relationship. The negative voice in his mind warned him that it wouldn’t last, but it was easy to block it out when they held one another in their arms. 

Returning to Gravity Falls was probably the best choice he had ever made.

***

They were lying on the couch, Dipper leaning against Bill’s shoulder, as they idly watched tv. They were more or less watching one of those terrible bargain movies that you could only find on Gravity Falls’ network, and Dipper stayed silent throughout, as his mind was in other places.

“What am I going to do about the nightmares?” he finally asked near the end of the movie.

Bill sat up, a knowing look on his face, “You don’t want to go back to the forest, do you?” he asked gently.

Dipper shook his head, “No… I… I really don’t.” 

Bill laughed softly, “Yeah, I don’t really want to either,” he admitted.

Dipper smiled gently, happy that Bill understood how he felt, “I just…” he shook his head and then took Bill’s hands and met his eye, “I don’t want to lose you,” his smile turned slightly grim and he shook his head again, “And… I don’t want to die.”

Saying it out loud was strange. It was when Dipper suddenly realized that he really didn’t want to die… when he realized that he had a new purpose… when he realized that Bill was the only thing that made his life worth living.

Bill laughed softly again and brought their hands up to his mouth where he placed a small kiss on the back of Dipper’s hand, “Yeah, I don’t want you to die either,” he said, both serious and slightly teasingly.

Dipper rolled his eyes but smiled. Yes, it was true. For some reason, Bill cared about him. “But… I’m so sick of these nightmares,” his smile fell and he looked away, “I’m sick of this guilt. I’m sick of this anger.”

“Look, I thought that finding and killing this thing would be the easiest thing to do, but I’ve obviously overestimated the human body,” he glanced at the bandage on his arm, “I mean, _obviously_. But there’s something else you can do.” Dipper looked up with hope in his eyes. “You have to forgive yourself _and_ this monster.” Dipper looked away and shook his head again, looking defeated. “Pinetree, I’m a master of the mind… or I _was_. I was a _dream_ demon. Nightmares are my domain. I know how they work, I’ve been giving them to people for centuries. I’m not great with emotions, but I know they’re feeding off your guilt and your fear and your anger. They take your worst, strongest, most negative emotion and throw it back into your face.” Dipper still wouldn’t meet his face, looking down at their hands. Bill was determined, “I _know_ what these nightmares are doing to you. If I was the one who gave them to you, and if I didn’t care about you, I would probably feel pretty proud of myself. They’re destroying your mind from the inside out. You’ll never get better if you don’t let go of your guilt first.”

“But…” Dipper started. Damnit, he told himself that step one was to stop crying all the time. If he tried to explain, he’d break down for sure. He gritted his teeth and squeezed Bill’s hands, “But this thing…it just… _killed her_ … and it’s _my fault_ ….” 

“ _No it’s not,_ ” Bill enunciated. He let go of one of Dipper’s hands and rested his against Dipper’s cheek, tilting his head up and forcing him to make eye contact. Bill’s voice was soft and sad, much like his expression, “You keep making up ways to blame yourself for things that aren’t your fault. You blame yourself for me getting hurt because we were out there for ‘your sake’ even though it was my idea. You blame yourself for Mabel getting hurt even though we were out there for my sake, and that was also my idea,” he gently shook his head and bit the inside of his cheek, “It will never be your fault. _Never_. The only time anything will be your fault is if you pull the trigger yourself. You have to let it go and you have to let go of your anger.”

Dipper was quiet and he rubbed his thumb over Bill’s hand absentmindedly as he thought before he finally admitted, “I… I don’t know _how_ ;.”

Dipper looked up when he felt Bill pulling him close and closed his eyes as their lips met softly. When they pulled away, Dipper opened his eyes slowly to see Bill smiling, “I’ll help you,” he promised. 

And to that, Dipper couldn’t help but smile too. 

*** 

An hour passed by and the mood lightened after they ate lunch and Dipper had Bill try some different human foods. That was always a fiasco of sorts, as Bill did everything in his power to be difficult and stubborn and delay the learning process, but that was probably just because he was a total dick. And Dipper made sure that Bill was aware of that fact, often. 

They were on the couch again, arguing, most likely about something having to do with the show they were watching, when there was a knock at the door. 

“I’ll play you a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who answers the door,” Dipper challenged. 

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Bill asked, “What the hell is that?” 

“You’re as old as this dimension, maybe older, and you don’t know what rock, paper, scissors is?” Dipper asked incredulously. 

“No… Should I?” 

“What the hell have you been doing all-” There was another knock. Dipper rolled his eyes and stood up, “Fine. I’ll get it.” 

Dipper stretched out his back before walking to the door, looking at the outlines of the visitors through the window. Two people? When he opened the door, he was greeted by the smiling faces of a redheaded woman and a tall baseball cap-wearing man. 

“Soos! Wendy!” Dipper greeted with a big smile, hugging them both. 

“Hey, man!” Wendy laughed. 

“’Sup, dude,” Soos greeted. 

“It’s been so long! How… how have you been?” Dipper asked. 

Before either could answer, Bill came around the corner with a slightly confused look on his face, “What are you yelling about?” he started asking before he saw the two standing at the door. A small smile appeared on his face and he walked over to stand next to Dipper, leaning against the wall, “Question Mark, Red, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 

“Bill?!” Wendy shouted, surprised, “No way! What are you doing here?!” before he could answer, she realized something, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second! How did you get past the barrier?” 

“Oh,” he started, unabashed by the question, “It was a bitch to maintain and they knew I wasn’t going to hurt anyone, so they took it down.” 

Dipper was confused. Why did he just lie? 

“Are you telling me that we beat up those unicorns for nothing?” Wendy whined before shrugging it off, “Oh well, those hoofbags had it coming.” 

Wendy’s response made Dipper smile and he forgot his confusion for the moment, happy to be surrounded by his friends. 

“Oh, and Dipper, by the way, you’re like… really happy. Like… extremely happy. The kind of happy that you can’t even fake if you tried,” Wendy noticed with a pleased smile. 

“Yes, you do have a certain _glow_ about you,” Soos agreed with a nod. 

“Oh,” Dipper laughed sheepishly before intertwining his fingers with Bill’s and holding up their hands, “Well…” 

Both Wendy and Soos were pleasantly surprised. Wendy’s eyes went wide and her smile matched, “Mabel and I _knew_ it!” she cheered triumphantly, “We knew it was just a matter of time!” 

“Whoa, wait a second,” Dipper said, feeling confused, “Did Mabel tell you that I had a crush on him?” Dipper got a little sad, “She promised me that she would keep that a secret.” 

Wendy shook her head, “No way, man. I came to Mabel and told her I had my suspicions. She never confirmed them, but she supported me,” she smiled mischievously, “So you really did have a crush on him, huh?” she laughed, “I knew it,” she repeated. 

“Your love was but a flower that took its time to bloom,” Soos explained with a metaphor. 

“Wait, you had a crush on me when we were 12?” Bill asked with his eyebrows raised and an amused smile on his face. 

“What? No!” Dipper announced, letting go of his hand and crossing his arms, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Everyone, except Dipper, laughed. 

“Okay, now you _have_ to tell me about that later,” Bill said, amused. 

“Fine, fine, whatever,” Dipper said, dismissively waving his hand. Then he turned towards Soos and Wendy again, “Hey, so do you guys want to come in? We have the bargain movie showcase playing.” 

“Yes!” Wendy cheered sarcastically, “That’s something they don’t have in Portland!” 

*** 

They all spent the day catching up with one another, laughing over good memories, and making fun of the terrible movies. Wendy enjoyed college, saying it was a lot better than high school. She made a lot of new friends, and did a lot of new fun things. Her GPA was high, and her outlook on her future was pretty bright. Dipper envied her immensely. She and her friends were planning on going on a road trip this summer. Soos was also enjoying life. Despite how big Waddles had gotten, he and Melody loved him. His handyman business was going well, and with all the money he was making, he had made plans to propose to Melody. Everyone went crazy over that and they ordered pizza soon after. While eating, they went over the details of the ring he was going to give her and how the proposal was going to go down. 

Sooner than they expected, it was getting dark. Wendy had to leave, as her dad wanted her family to meet up at one of her brothers’ houses that night, and he lived about an hour away, and today was Soos’ only free day off, as his business was actually pretty busy, and he needed to train new workers on the art of fixing and upgrading the projects they were given. Dipper was sad to say goodbye, having enjoyed their company. He remembered back when he was told that they would stop by and how he dreaded losing his alone time. Little did he know that good friends were the one thing he needed more than anything. 

He hugged them both goodbye and watched as they pulled out of the driveway. Once they were out of sight, Dipper walked into the kitchen, where Bill sat finishing a piece of pizza. Dipper wrapped up the leftover slices and put them in the fridge and then cleaned up the boxes, all with a small smile on his face. 

“That was nice,” Bill said to him. 

“Yeah… It was… I missed them,” Dipper realized. After he put aside the boxes, he sat down next to Bill and propped his head up on one of his hands, “I’m just glad they didn’t try to exorcise you.” 

Bill scoffed, “Why would they do that? I’m amazing.” 

Dipper rolled his eyes but smiled, “Yeah,” he said sarcastically, “You’re amazing.” 

“Well, hey, you apparently thought so,” he said mischievously. Dipper raised his eyebrows, confused. “You had a crush on me when we were kids.” 

Understanding flooded Dipper’s expression and he covered his face with his hands as he groaned embarrassingly, “Oh god…” 

“You really have to stop calling me that, or I’m not going to stay humble for long,” Bill murmured jokingly. 

Disregarding the joke, Dipper dragged his hands down his face and then turned his eyes to Bill, “Yes, okay. I had crush on you. Happy to hear me admit it?” 

“Not that there’s not a ton of reasons or something like that, but why?” He laughed. 

“It’s your fault,” Dipper accused, “You were the one flirting with me!” he paused for a moment and sighed, “I don’t know. It was actually back when I was thirteen. I was confused. You were my only friend other than Mabel. It was probably inevitable.” 

“I was _flirting_?” Bill asked and then laughed, “Really? Are you sure?” 

Dipper threw up his hands, “See! I knew it! I knew you didn’t realize it!” he smiled and rolled his eyes, “I was talking to Mabel, trying to figure out whether or not you were flirting with me and she realized that I was talking about you,” he looked down at the table as he remembered, “She was convinced that you were in love with me, and that you thought that I was in love with you too,” he shook his head as he smiled, “I mean, yeah I did like you and all… I can’t explain why, I just did… and when I admitted it to Mabel she freaked out,” he laughed, remembering her reaction, “I made her promise not to tell anyone and that she wouldn’t try to push us together, and she made me promise that I would eventually tell you how I felt,” he smiled and looked up, “Hey, she kept her promise, and I guess I just fulfilled my side of the bargain too,” he laughed, looking happy, “And then she…” he suddenly trailed off, remembering something, “Wait here a second,” he asked and then got up and left the room. He came back a minute later with his journal in his hands, “And then she wrote this in my journal…” he flipped to the last page. 

“‘-Happy -smile -laugh -Mabel was right -you are stupid,’” Bill read out loud, smiling, “What exactly does that mean?” 

“She wrote that to remind me that when I told you, I would finally feel happy, and I would laugh and smile, and think about how right she was from the beginning, and think about how grateful I should be that someone got me to stop being stupid,” he remembered with a smile. He ran his thumb over the words and Mabel’s girly handwriting. She would probably be so pretty if she was alive. She would’ve made so many friends… broken so many hearts… 

Bill suddenly put his hand over top of Dipper’s, jolting him out of his thoughts. Dipper looked up and brushed away a tear that had escaped his eye without him realizing it. He swallowed and cleared his throat before shaking his head while saying, “I really miss her.” 

“I do too,” Bill agreed, meeting his eyes with a grim smile. 

“Why did it have to find her?” he asked, shaking his head, “Why couldn’t it have found us instead?” 

“It’s not your fault,” Bill stated for probably the fiftieth time. 

Dipper nodded his head, not outright accepting the statement, but also not denying it. 

There were a couple moments’ pauses before Bill stood and tugged on Dipper’s hand, “Come on,” he said gently, with a small sad smile. 

Dipper was confused, but he complied. He left the journal on the table, and Bill led him back to their bedroom. Dipper realized that, really, it technically was their bedroom. It was only about eight, but Dipper was exhausted emotionally, so he laid down. Bill did the same, and they wrapped their arms sweetly around one another. Dipper didn’t cry as he buried his face in Bill’s shoulder, happy to feel his warmth, and happy to be close to him… happy to be with… his boyfriend. That was something he never thought he’d say. He had a boyfriend. Bill was his boyfriend. 

He made life worth living. He was the only one who understood him; the only one who knew his reactions to his nightmares weren’t just some exaggerations. He knew he wasn’t faking it for attention or sympathy. He understood the pain that he was in. He was there, by his side, through it all: the nightmares, the panic attacks, the sudden bouts of sadness. He wanted him to get better…. He wanted to help him get better. He cared about him. 

Dipper held him a little tighter. 

“It’s okay,” Bill said softly, running his fingers through Dipper’s hair, “It’ll be okay.” 

And it would be… or, at least, there was a chance that it could be. If he could forgive himself… if he could just let go of his guilt… He had to stop the nightmares from reminding him of how he felt. He had to convince himself that he had no hand in Mabel’s death. 

“Bill…?” Dipper whispered. 

He cared about him. He wanted to help him. He wouldn’t abandon him. 

“Yeah, Pinetree?” he asked. 

Here he was, holding him close, telling him that everything was going to be okay. He was telling him that he would eventually forgive himself. That he had faith in him. That he knew he was stronger than this. He knew the nightmares would go away. He knew the panic attacks would slowly decrease in frequency. And he was willing to stick with him until they did. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

He loved him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never realize how many times I use italics until I have to go back through and put in the html for it all.
> 
> Also,
> 
> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Leave a comment and a kudos and tell me what you think! This is my first fic so feedback is important! This story is unfinished but if it generates fans I'll most likely write the end of it. Thank you once again! My Tumblr is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sometimesitcomesdowntothis


	15. Finally Some Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Bill get to spend a day together with no interruptions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER I HAVE WRITTEN !!  
> !! MORE NOTES AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER !!

Mabel was crying, lying on the ground, begging Dipper to save her. He stood far away, reaching out, and the closer he got to her, the farther he actually became. He yelled out, begging to be able to reach her, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. She scrambled away from dark claws that reached for her, and he watched as they picked her up and then tore her pieces. They both screamed as bloody bits rained down from the canopy of trees overhead, echoing throughout the dark clearing. Then suddenly, Dipper was at her side, looking at his hands; they were bloodstained claws. He had killed her.

He cried at her side, begging for forgiveness over and over again, “I love you, Mabel,” he cried out.

Much unlike other dreams, his cry was answered.

“I love you too, Dipper.” He heard whispered.

He opened his eyes and look down at Mabel’s body. She was whole again, and his hands were clean. “M-Mabel?” he choked, reaching out to take her hands.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, smiling. It’s been so long since he’s seen her smile. “It’s not your fault.”

And then she was gone, disappeared into thin air. He felt the ground where she used to be lying, but found nothing. He wanted to talk to her again. He wanted to see her smile.

He was about to cry out when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, scared, but turned around to see Bill. Relieved, he stood up and threw his arms around his neck.

“It’s not my fault,” Dipper whispered to him as he was held close, “It’s not my fault. She said it’s not my fault.”

“No,” Bill whispered softly, “It’s not.”

\--

Dipper awoke with a start, his heart pounding. He opened his eyes to the dark of the room and sat up slowly, taking in the surroundings. A little bit of moonlight came in through the window, giving a white hue to the things it illuminated, and Bill was sleeping peacefully, something that Dipper had never seen before, considering how he was always waking him up with his screaming and crying. Dipper put his hand over his chest to feel his racing heart, and took a deep breath when he realized it wasn’t from fear… he was happy. He was excited, even. He just had a good dream. For the first time in five years, he had a good dream.

The first thing he wanted to do was tell Bill, of course, but he looked so calm as he slept that Dipper didn’t want to wake him up. So, he settled with sitting next to him, resting his head on his knee, watching him breathe. It was probably the most relaxing thing he had ever done. He could’ve fallen asleep again if Bill didn’t start moving. Soon after, he turned and noticed that Dipper was awake. 

It didn’t take him long to get concerned, “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, sitting up and moving beside him, wrapping an arm around his side, not even taking a moment to think, Dipper’s emotions being the only things of his concern.

Dipper smiled and laughed softly, “Yeah, I’m fine,” he whispered.

Bill was surprised, “What?” he asked. He wasn’t used to hearing him so calm at this time of night. His tired mind almost couldn’t comprehend it.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, leaning into Bill’s arms, “I didn’t have a nightmare.”

“What?” he asked again, “How’s that possible?”

“I don’t know…” he laughed softly, “But… I didn’t.”

Bill laughed in disbelief, shaking off the last of the fog he woke up in, “That’s amazing,” he said, pushing Dipper’s hair out of his face, smiling.

“I know…” Dipper trailed off, putting his head on his shoulder.

“What happened?” he asked, holding Dipper close.

“I don’t remember it all… but at first it was just like a nightmare. Mabel was killed, and it was my fault… but then… she came back to life. She told me that she loved me and that it wasn’t my fault… and then smiled before she disappeared. Then, suddenly you were there and you held me and I told you what Mabel said… and then you agreed with her. I woke up after that. My heart was pounding, but I wasn’t scared. I was… excited,” he laughed softly, “It’s been so long since I didn’t wake up crying in the middle of the night.”

Bill pulled him away so he could look into his eyes, “I don’t understand how this happened…” he admitted, “But I’m happy it did.”

They pulled each other close and hugged. Dipper held him tightly, knowing that it probably had something to do with him. It had to. “Thank you,” he whispered. Bill laughed softly, obviously confused about what he was being thanked for. “Thank you for loving me.”

When they pulled away, Bill smiled, “How couldn’t I?” he asked, brushing his hand across Dipper’s cheek before putting a small kiss after it. Dipper’s chest filled with warmth as he smiled and looked away sheepishly. “Come on, let’s go back to sleep.”

Together, they wrapped themselves in each other’s arms, and never wanted to let go.

\--  
There was a certain peace to waking up after a good night’s rest that Dipper never understood until this point. A feeling of warmth and contentment and relaxation came over him as he suddenly became conscious of the pillow underneath his head and the blanket near his waist. He wasn’t used to the pleasant thoughts that meandered through his mind…

He didn’t have a nightmare. Bill loved him. He couldn’t feel dried tears tight on his face. He loved him. His throat wasn’t sore from screaming out in horror. He was in love with him. He saw Mabel smile again. He had openly admitted his feelings. He could feel the small smile on his face. And most importantly…

Half asleep, Dipper reached out to his side where he found Bill’s arm and then trailed down until he felt his hand. He intertwined their fingers, feeling Bill reciprocate the gesture gently. Before Dipper completely slipped back into unconsciousness he was aware of soft movement and then the feeling of Bill bringing his other hand to lie over top of his. Together, they fell back into sleep, a gentle grip on one another acting as assurance that they weren’t alone.

\--

Dipper reached out his arms, stretching the muscles that went stuff with sleep. His hand brushed over the spot where Bill slept, but found it empty. His sudden confusion was what stirred him awake. Through half-lidded eyes he blearily looked over the room, seeing a blurry shape sitting up on the bed. He closed his eyes again and put his hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn, then rubbed at his eyes before he slowly sat up. Sleepily, he moved over to where Bill was sitting and gently put his head on his shoulder while wrapping his arms around his bicep.

“What are you doing…?” he asked, nearly falling asleep all over again.

The corners of Bill mouth twitched up slightly at the sound of Dipper’s tired voice and he leaned into the weight of the body against his shoulder, “It’s itchy,” he murmured, rubbing and picking at the bandage on his arm.

Dipper moved away from Bill’s shoulder and gently rubbed his eyes again as he said, “That means it’s healing,” through another small yawn. Once he was done, he held out his hand, “Here, lemme see,” he mumbled, sleep still thick in his voice.

Bill smiled again at the sound and held out his arm. Dipper softly started to pull off the bandages, the careful movements contrasting with the tired look on his face. “I thought that not having a nightmare and sleeping late would make you less tired,” Bill questioned.

“What time is it?”

“Ten.”

“Well, that explains it,” Dipper explained, “I’m not used to getting so much sleep.”

“Wait, you can get too much sleep?” Bill asked, surprised and confused.

“Yeah,” Dipper answered, but smiled, “But it feels so much better than not getting enough.” The bandages fell away, and confusion took over Dipper’s expression, helping wipe away some of his drowsiness, “Wow… you’re a… fast healer…”

Bill looked down at his wound, “I guess these human bodies are more durable than I thought,” he announced, smiling. The gash was down to a thin red line on his arm, hardly noticeable.

“It’s only been a few days…” Dipper said as he quickly flicked his narrowed eyes around Bill’s body, thinking. Soon after, he asked, “Take your shirt off.”

Almost immediately, Bill raised his eyebrows, “Oh, you want me to take my shirt off?” he asked in a mocking manner.

Dipper suddenly realized the way his request sounded, but was able to keep his face from getting red, although he did change his expression slightly. “Just do it.”

Bill crossed his arms and smiled when he noticed Dipper’s realization, “Make me,” he challenged jokingly.

Dipper’s face did get slightly red then, not because of the words themselves, but the ideas they suddenly brought to his mind. Of course, Bill just had to have the most accidentally suggestive vocabulary. “Come on, don’t be like that, I just woke up,” he pouted slightly, keeping his voice steady, exiling his previous thoughts from his mind, no matter how appealing he found them.

“Alright,” Bill smiled, rolling his eyes, “fine.” He raised his arms to pull his shirt over his head. Dipper’s eyes quickly took in the movements of all his muscles as he did so, but innocently rested on the bandage once Bill’s eyes were no longer covered. “You’re no fun,” Bill complained quietly as Dipper started to peel off the bandage. Soon, though, Bill winced slightly, “Aw… shit… that still hurts…”

Dipper could see that the uncovered edges of the wound were in the early stages of healing, and both the red tone of the wound and Bill’s wincing told him that it was still sore. He gently pulled away the bandage, feeling the tensing of the muscles underneath his hands as he did so, to find the rest of the wound was about the same as it was before, other than scabbed over slightly. 

“This is still pretty bad…” he thought out loud. Despite how nasty it seemed, it thankfully didn’t look infected.

“Damnit, I thought pain was hilarious,” Bill murmured with disappointment, looking down at his chest.

Dipper looked up to meet his face and raised his eyebrows, “Bill, hon… you ripped your own eye out of your face.”

Bill shook his head slightly and brought a hand up to push his hair away from the empty socket that was home to his other eye for about five seconds, “Well, if you watched me do it, you would know I used my powers so it wouldn’t hurt or kill me somehow,” he rolled his other eye, “I just couldn’t live with that thing. It was weird.”

Curious and intrigued, Dipper gently placed his hand on Bill’s cheek, tilting his head slightly in order to take a closer look. His hair was always covering it up, so he wasn’t used to looking at the empty space. “You have a gaping hole in your head,” he assessed carefully, and then met his intact eye, “That’s weird.”

“Pfft,” Bill scoffed, “Please.”

Dipper shook his head and rolled his eyes, “You’re an idiot,” he declared, although lovingly. He leaned in close to place a gentle kiss on his cheek, underneath the absence of his eye, “But you’re my idiot so I guess I’m going to have to get used to it.”

Bill smiled as Dipper leaned back, and he dropped his hand to let his hair fall back down, “Hey, you’re the one who loves me,” he teased.

Dipper quickly leaned in again to pull him close and into a quick kiss, “I know,” he admitted, and then leaned back again, a teasing look on his face, “But that doesn’t make you any less of an idiot.”

Bill laughed softly as Dipper got off the bed, amused smile on his face, and walked out of the room. The sound of his footsteps made it clear that he walked to the bathroom. There was a small noise, and he retraced his steps back into the bedroom, digging through the first aid kit with a confused look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Bill asked, noticing his confusion.

Dipper sighed, annoyed, “We’re out of bandages,” he informed. He looked up, taking in the wound on Bill’s chest once again, “I should’ve noticed before… I wouldn’t have used them all up before…” he thought for a moment, but shook his head at his thoughts, “I don’t think that can go without being covered…”

Bill was looking at his chest and gently touching the edges of the wound, “Yeah…” he started, wincing slightly at the pressure, “This still really hurts.”

“Then stop touching it,” Dipper advised. Bill dropped his hands, looking disappointed and slightly sheepish. Even though he realized that pain wasn’t hilarious, he was still curious about the feeling, as strong and foreign as it was. Dipper chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, “I guess a trip into town is in order…” 

Bill’s expression noticeably changed at the words. “No!” he said, jumping up, “No… no… That’s fine. I’m fine. Let’s just stay here.”

Dipper was taken aback by his sudden fervor and the nervous sound in his voice, “What?” he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing... nothing at all. We just don’t have to leave. I’ll be fine, let’s stay here,” Bill tried to reassure.

Dipper was suspicious and concerned at the same time, “If we don’t keep that covered, it’ll get infected for sure…” Dipper had a thought that scared him, “You don’t feel warm, do you?” he asked, putting his hand to Bill’s forehead, fearing a fever that would come with an infection.

“I always feel warm when I’m with you,” Bill joked, smiling.

Dipper smiled, “Come on, it’s no trouble. We need to go into town sooner or later, you can’t wear my clothes forever, right? Then we can get food at the diner! I wonder how everyone’s doing…” he broke off his thoughts, a new smile on his face, and looked towards Bill.

His expression was uneasy again, but he smiled slightly, “Alright…” he agreed slowly, “I guess we can go into town.”

“Good!” Dipper jumped up. He grabbed the first aid kit again and pulled out an oddly shaped bandage that was most likely for an ankle or elbow, “Here, I did find this in there. So after we clean that and cover it up, we can eat breakfast and get dressed, and then we can get going. Sound good?”

Bill couldn’t help but smile gently at Dipper’s enthusiasm, even though whatever reservations he held about leaving were still sitting heavily in his chest, “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Good!” Dipper smiled, leaning in for a quick kiss. He was about to pull away when suddenly Bill wrapped his arms around Dipper’s waist. “What…” Dipper started, surprised, but his mind was quickly scattered. He didn’t understand why Bill touching his waist did that to him, but it never failed.

“I really do love you,” Bill said sincerely, soft smile on his face.

The words put the pieces of his mind back together again and he returned the smile, leaning gently into Bill’s arms, “I love you too,” he replied warmly and then kissed him on his cheek. They spent a moment more together before Dipper pulled away, “Come on,” he said cheerily, “We have a lot to do today.”

\--

For the first half of the day, Bill seemed nervous and jumpy, looking around them and over their shoulders, but after they ate, he started to mellow out. The town and its people were seemingly untouched by time, everything exactly the same as on Dipper’s last day, except for a few more gray hairs on everyone’s heads. Unsurprisingly, no one recognized Bill, but they were all supportive of Dipper’s return, making him feel welcome. The two did their shopping and errands, enjoying the time they spent outside when not being pursued by an angry creature, or vice versa. They returned to the shack feeling slightly tired, but happy nonetheless. First, they put everything away in their respective cabinets and closets. Dipper was unsure of what game Bill was trying to play but every time he opened a cabinet, all the items inside were suddenly shifted around. It was funny at first, but then after the fifth time, it started getting on his nerves.

“Bill!” Dipper snapped, “Could you knock it off? The ice cream is going to melt.”

Bill laughed, leaning on the edge of the table, “Calm down, Pinetree, it’s funny.”

“Sure, the first time maybe. Come on, stop,” Dipper asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Fine,” Bill waved dismissively, looking disappointed. 

Dipper could tell that something in the air shifted, and he opened a cabinet, planning to put away a box of crackers, but found the jug of milk they just bought. He threw up his hands, but was oddly calm, “Alright, fine, if that’s what you want. Let’s just let everything spoil. Come on, let’s go change your bandage,” he said in a passive aggressive tone, grabbing the new first aid they bought and heading to the living room.

Bill followed, a small smirk still on his lips. Dipper sat down on the couch heavily, continuing to make his actions and body language as passive aggressive as possible. Bill was having none of it. He plopped down beside him without hesitation, smirking, and put his arm around his back and pulled him close in one quick jolting movement. Dipper dropped the first aid kit both in surprise and because the action was so sudden. Bill put his head on Dipper’s shoulder, smiling.

“Calm down, Pinetree, I’ll put it all back,” he promised, obviously amused.

“Good. That’s all I’m asking,” Dipper stated firmly, his residual annoyance keeping him from blushing as a response to Bill nuzzling his shoulder. But then, suddenly, Bill happened to brush his lips against Dipper’s neck, and he jumped and squealed loudly in response, shocking them both. Bill pulled away, amazed, and Dipper put a hand both to his mouth, trying to put the noise back where it came from, and to his neck. His face turned bright red. “My neck is really sensitive, okay,” he explained, embarrassed. He knew he never grew out of being ticklish, but damn he didn’t realize his neck was that sensitive. A mischievous smile bloomed across Bill’s face, but Dipper shut it down immediately. “Please, don’t,” he begged. Not only was it embarrassing but it kind of hurt to jump so hard and so suddenly. 

“Fine, fine,” Bill agreed, his smile slightly dropping, but only slightly, as Dipper’s face was still bright red.

“Thank you…” he said graciously, removing his hand from his neck and reaching for the first aid kit, “Let’s just fix your chest, okay? Take your shirt off.”

Bill smiled and raised an eyebrow, “Why don’t you do it for me?” he asked.

Dipper rolled his eyes, “You wish. Now come on. How many times are you going to make this joke?”

Bill complied, mumbling about how Dipper was no fun, and Dipper went to work on putting a better bandage on his wound for him. Bill flinched and jumped the whole time, and it almost felt like payback for the neck incident, except he really did feel bad for having to put him through it. It was better for it happen this way instead of them dealing with an infection. Dipper was no nurse and had no idea what to even do in such a situation. 

“There, that should hold for a little while longer,” Dipper said, admiring his handiwork. His hand trailed over his chest for a moment. Bill’s body was a lot like Dipper’s, seeing as he modeled it like so, except Dipper was much thinner, with a good portion of his ribs showing. Bill wasn’t skin and bones, he was the perfect middle ground of just thin, but not really to an extent that would concern anyone if they saw him.

Dipper gently trailed his hands around his collarbone and chest and down his ribcage to his stomach and then back up. He didn’t really intend on doing this, it just felt nice to touch another human being, and in no way that intended to seem creepy, to feel another person’s skin and warmth under his hands. Suddenly tired, most likely from the feelings of warmth and safety that being with Bill brought him, Dipper rested his head on Bill’s shoulder, continuing to lazily run his hands over his chest, carefully avoiding the bandaged areas. Bill held him close before he slightly pushed him away to meet his eyes and give him a small tender kiss. Dipper smiled into the gesture, reciprocating gently until they slowly pulled apart and met one another’s gaze. 

Smiling, Bill gently ran a finger under Dipper’s chin and tilted it upwards, pulling him into another kiss. The gesture made warmth explode in Dipper’s chest. In the best way possible, he felt like he was trapped in the kiss, like the rest of the world didn’t matter anymore. His head felt heavy and fuzzy, and all he could focus on was the feeling of Bill’s lips against his own, and his hand slowly sliding up and holding his cheek. Dipper rested his hands on Bill’s neck, not being afraid to gently pull him closer. When they pulled apart and met one another’s eyes again they smiled almost sheepishly, as it was the most intimate moment they had ever shared with one another… and neither of them wanted it to end. 

Bill put his hands on Dipper’s hips and gently tugged him close, and in response, Dipper put his hands back on his chest. They kissed tenderly again, but slightly more hungrily than before. Right as he felt Bill’s grip on his hips tighten slightly, he also felt him smile, and even with just his lips he could tell it was a mischievous smile. Before he had a moment to clear his mind and wonder what was going to happen, Bill trailed his kisses down Dipper’s chin, down his throat, and to his neck. Dipper gasped slightly at the feeling, and tried to hold back his involuntary noises by biting his lip, but the gentle and slow kisses being placed on his neck did their job, and Dipper made a tiny noise in his throat. It was better than the shocked squeal from before, but almost worse in the way that conveyed exactly how he felt at the moment. He tilted his head upwards slowly, savoring the feeling of his lips, and the warmth of his breath. The tiny sounds of the kisses were the only thing reaching his ears at the moment, becoming unaware of the sounds he was making in his throat as his breathing became heavier by the second. 

Bill pulled away very slowly. Dipper lowered his neck, and looked at the man in front of him through heavy half lidded eyes. His mind was completely clouded over, and all he could feel was warmth throughout his entire body, his heart pounding in his chest, and Bill’s hands on his hips. He wanted his lips again, like it was the only thing that mattered to him anymore, like they were drawn together by magnets or a spell that wouldn’t allow them to be apart by more than six inches. He leaned forwards, closing his eyes, their lips meeting again. Bill tugged him to get him even closer, and Dipper ended up in his lap, which neither of them even minded. The fact hardly even registered to Dipper’s brain, all he knew was that they were close… extremely close, and made even closer when Bill ran his hands up Dipper’s chest and pushed his shirt up, feeling his ribs through his skin without the hesitation or disgust Dipper feared he would encounter for so long. 

Because of how they were sitting, when Dipper leaned in and pushed Bill slightly against the back of the couch, he was taller. He put his hands behind his neck, trailing up slightly to the back of head, some of his fingers slightly entangling in his hair. With only the smallest pause, they parted so Bill could push Dipper’s shirt up over his head and let it drop to the ground. They pushed their chests close together, Bill running his hands up Dipper’s bare back, feeling his muscles and ribs and spine. The feeling made him melt and he sank back to sit on Bill’s legs, trailing his kisses down his neck in return. Thankfully, Dipper wasn’t the only one sensitive on their neck. He kissed one side, and trailed a hand down the other, holding him close as he kissed both gently and roughly, being encouraged by the tiny noises that were so hard to suppress, even though at this point, they didn’t even know why they would want to stop them, it was like a compliment without words. 

Eventually, Dipper returned his lips to Bill’s. In this moment, he happened to notice how quickly they were both breathing, making a bit of the cloud clear from his head, but this just allowed him to feel more and be more conscious of where his hands were and what he was doing. At the same time, however, Bill gently bit at Dipper’s lower lip and an involuntary moan happened to escape him in response. Because he was more conscious of himself, he got embarrassed by the noise, but Bill was not about to stop and make fun of him, taking in a deep breath and kissing down his neck again, but not stopping, and going to his collarbone. Because Dipper was sitting on his knees, he slowly started to get up, as Bill kissed lower down his chest and ribs and stomach, but went no lower from there. His hands were on his ass, mostly because of that’s where his hands happened to reach when Dipper wasn’t completely sitting down, but when he leaned back again, they only moved a little bit higher.

Suddenly, Bill jumped, pushing Dipper a little bit away from him and letting out a small sound of pain. Dipper had accidentally pressed his hand onto where he just finished bandaging.

“I’m so sorry!” Dipper apologized feverishly, half of his mind still cloudy.

“No, no I’m fine don’t worry,” Bill reassured, his voice sounding clouded, as if he was drunk or high or tired.

They took a moment to look at one another; they were both trying to catch their breath, their eyes looked tired, almost cloudy in a way, and their faces and bodies were both shades of red. It took Dipper a minute to process what had happened, but when he did he suddenly got up and excused himself, going to the bathroom. When he shut the door behind him, he allowed himself to freak out. He paced back and forth a little, occasionally looking at himself in the mirror. Every part of his body was warm and buzzing, like he was hit with electricity. Yes, every part.

“Oh no,” Dipper thought as he realized, “Please tell me he did not see that. That is so embarrassing…” he took a moment to process the past events, “Although we were just making out… we were making out… hardcore… Wouldn’t it be way worse if this didn’t happen…? God and I was doing so well with keeping this under control…” he was starting to come down off his high and he could reflect, “Damn I wanted him so bad it almost scares me… Shit…” 

After another minute of calming himself down and steeling himself, he left, suddenly feeling cold now that he wasn’t beside Bill… and on top of him… also he didn’t have a shirt on so there was that. He entered the living room, where Bill looked up, coming out of his thoughts, a calm smile on his lips.

“Are you… okay, Pinetree?” he asked sheepishly.

Dipper smiled widely, crossing the room and gently sitting himself down on his lap once again. He hugged him close, although he did so gently, and put his head on his shoulder and lightly pressed their chests together. “Don’t worry… I’m better than okay… I’m fantastic.” 

Bill chuckled quietly, wrapping his arms tightly around his back, and Dipper could’ve sworn he could hear his smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all.  
> I feel bad that this is the last chapter I have written considering how fluffy it is at this moment. My motivation to write has all but left my body, especially now that the series is over. Also, I started writing this when The Last Mabelcorn was the most current episode aired, but after watching the finale it really put into perspective how Bill had no redemption arc, and was just plain evil and an unsympathetic character (At least that's how I see him, if you believe otherwise you're free to keep those beliefs)  
> This chapter was actually half finished for a while because I didn't know how to go about writing the make out scene in a tasteful manner. And although the fluffiness only slightly resparked my interest in writing, I still can't get over how uncomfortable the pairing of Bill and Dipper makes me feel now, even if my story is canon divergent and my take on Bill was more sympathetic.
> 
> The feedback I've received for this story was phenomenal and I can't thank any of you enough for loving my writing the way you all did. I feel terrible guilt that I am going to be leaving you with an unfinished story, but if I tried to force myself to write more for it, quality would have dropped tremendously. It's better to leave you wanting more than wholeheartedly disappointed in the narrative, right? At least now you have something to think back on in a wistful manner instead.
> 
> Because I assume this story would have taken at least 20+ chapters to finish and I have the rest of the story already planned out in my mind, I was planning on making a Chapter 16 and titling it "Author's Note," where I explain the way the story was meant to go.  
> What killed Mabel? What was up with that Boar Bear? What will happen to the relationship? What's up with the nightmares? Will Dipper ever recover? Is there a happy ending?  
> I will answer all these questions- and more- in the Authors Note, BUT only if you want me to.  
> I understand that being left to question what's going to happen next was a big part in the Gravity Falls fandom and if you don't want the mystery to be shattered and to have my (probably stupid) ending revealed, I won't do it.
> 
> Once again I want to say thank you for all your interest. I've squealed in glee watching the kudos number go up and reading your comments made me grin so wide I've hurt my face. I am sorry to be dropping this story but I just can't do it anymore because of time, motivation, and personal feelings towards this ship now.  
> I hope you all will forgive me for leaving you at such a point in the story as this (like I am super sorry this is how the last chapter ends) and give me a chance for possible later stories. I do still like writing (I'm an English major) and I hope to do more in the future, but probably for different fandoms. 
> 
> Goodbye and goodnight, all my fans of A Missing Eye and A Bow Tie. Tell me if you want that Author's Note!  
> Thank you for all of your support!  
> I love you all and appreciate every kudo and every single word of your comments.


	16. Author's Note and Other Details I Just Thought Of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A recap of the series so far, an explanation of what the rest of the plot was supposed to be, and then some notes I thought of that maybe you'll enjoy

To begin let me recap very briefly the events we’ve so far witnessed and help jog your memory.

-Bill’s apocalypse was shitty and he was easily stopped. Really he’s just a big idiot.  
-He approaches Dipper near the end of the first summer, transforms into a human kid, and says that he wants Dipper to show him what it’s like to be human now that his apocalypse has failed and he has time to spare. He’s all for new experiences.  
-Dipper only goes with him because Bill knows all the secrets of Gravity Falls promises to share them.  
-They get along well until the end of summer, the seeds of a crush were sown for Dipper as he has a dream about them holding hands.  
-Bill’s power and essence are contained in Gravity Falls and he cannot leave even if he wanted to.  
-Dipper and Bill were attacked by the Boar Bear, for unknown reasons. Dipper almost falls off a cliff.  
-Summer ends. Bill hangs out with Dipper in the dreamscape pretty regularly at first until he suddenly disappears and leaves Dipper all alone, leaving Dipper alone and bitter for the rest of the school year.  
-Bill offers a half asses explanation as to why he disappeared  
-Dipper forgives him because Bill is his only friend other than Mabel  
-Hand holding becomes canon. The crush is fairly solidified.  
-Dipper admits his crush to Mabel and promises he’ll tell Bill- eventually  
-Dipper and Bill realize they’re being stalked by monsters that are trying to get to Bill. Dipper promises to help him stop them/ throw them off their trail. Dipper forbids Mabel from following them out on these missions. She becomes lonely.  
-Mabel and Dipper fight. She goes out to prove herself to them and get killed by an unknown creature.  
-Dipper spirals into a deep depression for years, not returning to Gravity Falls. His grades slip, he has no friends or plans. He eventually admits to have occasional suicidal thoughts. Five years later at the start of summer he gets a letter from Gravity Falls. Stan and Ford were going out together on interdimensional sibling bonding traveling adventures and needed someone to watch the Shack. Dipper agrees to go, being stuck in a rut.  
-He meets Bill again and they respark their friendship (and Dipper’s crush)  
-Bill admits his powers have gone away and that he is 100% human now and needs lessons on how to be human and help surviving  
-Dipper has intense nightmares and Bill makes it so they sleep together so he can console Dipper when he wakes up crying/screaming.  
-Bill comes up with the plan that they find what killed Mabel and avenge her death, but when they’re out, the Boar Bear returns and they both almost die, but kill the Boar Bear  
-Dipper feels extremely guilty both about Mabel’s death and almost getting Bill killed. He admits this, on the verge of a breakdown, and Bill soothes him by kissing him. They admit they have feelings for one another  
-Wendy and Soos come to visit and Dipper informs them of his new relationship with Bill. They are supportive  
-Later, Dipper and Bill admit they love one another  
-Dipper suddenly has a dream in which Mabel forgives him and says that he’s not at fault for her death  
-Dipper, in a good mood for once, takes Bill out shopping. Bill is oddly hesitant about leaving the shack for unknown reasons but eventually goes and they have a fun time together.  
-Once home again, Dipper and Bill end up making out with one another for the first time. Dipper is shocked yet happy, and reconciles with the idea of how much care and attraction he holds for Bill, and how the vice versa is most likely true as well.

 

There you go, 15 chapters summed up in only a page and a half. Doubt it was as fun though.  
Now that you have a refresher, let me explain in more detail where the rest of the story was meant to go.

The next handful of chapters were supposed to be blindly filled with fluff. Although Dipper is not “cured” by love (no one can be) he’s having a bit of an easier time. He no longer has nightmares, but he does have good days and bad days and anxiety. Throughout these chapters, at first it’s not very noticeable, but Bill becomes more and more nervous about something, and his wounds suddenly take a long time to heal, he sleeps for longer, and eats more. It’s possible he also gets a small infection, but there are no lingering effects from it.

Eventually in this time, it is implied that they have sex, and I honestly have written the scene that builds up to right before it happens (it’s another make out scene but ends with clothes removal) and then begins again the morning after. This scene is honestly the reason why I gave this fic a Mature rating (and I was planning on having more bloody scenes too but I guess not) If you guys want I can add that scene in after this Author’s Note, or maybe I can just “start a new fic” and call it a one shot but add how it was meant for this fic later on.

Anyways, as all things, when it looks good it probably won’t last long. Somehow they find out that creatures have been widespread attacking the town. Not just Gnomes stealing pie, but buildings are being destroyed, people are getting hurt, and there’s panic. Oddly enough, everything has been peaceful around the Shack. 

Dipper freaks out, not knowing what to do to help, but knowing that he has to somehow. Suddenly, Bill comes up with a plan, but they needed to go to the basement to do it. Dipper lets him in the basement, desperate to find something in Ford’s notes, but once they’re downstairs, Dipper suddenly blacks out. 

When he comes to, he realizes that Bill had hit him over the head to knock him out. Dipper is still mostly out of it, watching through blurry vision as Bill types on the control panels for the portal. Once the portal starts to boot up, Bill moves into the portal’s room, glancing at Dipper struggling on the floor to regain cognitive thought, his expression unreadable through Dipper’s blurry vision and spiraling mind. He watches Bill enter the portal.  
Eventually, an unknown amount of time passes. Dipper recovers from most of the shock of the injury, and stumbles into the portal room, confused, scared, and feeling betrayed. He realizes that Bill used him. Somehow, through it all, Bill’s end game was to scam Dipper into letting him use the portal. Ideas fly through Dipper’s head about what Bill wanted “A new dimension to take over? Some kind of weapon? Is he bringing creatures over to destroy the universe?” He recognizes that six years is like six minutes to a demon. He thinks back on how easily to manipulate he was and how many opportunities he gave for Bill to wedge his way into his life.

Suddenly, he hears a laugh. A very familiar laugh that chills him to the bone. Bill walks back out of the portal, a wide evil smile on his face, chuckling wildly to himself. He suddenly starts to morph and transform in a hellish fashion, as his one good eye centers on his face and his mouth begins disappearing, but a bright flash blinds Dipper as Bill suddenly transforms back into his triangle form. Dipper is horrified. 

In this triangle form, he berates Dipper, calls him stupid, and says he wasted time on him. When they stopped his apocalypse they cut him off from his power source, so he transformed into a human form in order to conserve power and to manipulate Dipper, who he knew would be the weakest link. He calls Dipper an idiot for trusting him.

Suddenly, when Dipper is wracked by tears, unable to handle all the betrayal, a bright flash blinds him and he hears a heavy thump. He sees a human like form crumpled on the ground below where Bill was just floating. Everything is quiet and eerie. Dipper doesn’t know what to do. Very slowly he inches closer and closer to the form, until it moves. He moves back, scared, but recognizes the sound of sobbing echoing through the room, as the body in front of him shakes and trembles along with it. Still unsure, Dipper inches closer and whispers “Bill?” and suddenly the form turns around and in a blind rush takes a hold of him. Dipper instinctively raises his arms to push him away, but notices the complete lack of strength and energy in all of Bill’s muscles, feels him sobbing and the tears on his face as he buries his face in Dipper’s shoulder, and hears him trying to whisper millions of I’m sorry’s through his sobs.

Dipper relaxes slightly, confused, but recognizes the body and the voice as the man he fell in love with. Throwing caution to the wind, he embraces him back, and they melt into each other, burying their faces into their shoulders, crying.

Bill eventually pulls away, looking Dipper in his eyes. Dipper notices that Bill’s human form now has two eyes again. 

Cautiously and quietly, Bill explains what has happened, but much more apologetically and thoroughly than when he was in triangle form.

He was cut off from his power, used a human form to conserve energy, and went after Dipper, knowing he would be the easiest to trick in order to get back to the portal and reestablish a connection with his own dimension, as mentioned before. He started having fun with Dipper, and as the days went by he lost more and more energy, it was slow, but it happened, and he became more and more human, more and more susceptible to human emotions. The reason why the Boar Bear, and every other creature, attacked was because it was Bill’s power that attracted them to Gravity Falls in the first place, and it’s what kept them trapped there, but upon realizing that they weren’t being controlled as strongly, they knew that they could kill him and gain freedom to leave. Over the summer, the reason why he couldn’t meet Dipper in his dreams was because it was taking too much energy and he didn’t want to lose it altogether.

The thing that killed Mabel was just another random creature. Mabel and Dipper’s scents were so alike that it found her instead of Dipper, knowing that Dipper would be with Bill, and killed her either out of spite or to send a message. Bill reiterates that her death was all his fault, and nothing Dipper did that day could have stopped it. Everyone at the shack was in danger because of him, but it happened to be Mabel who found the danger first.  
During the five year span of Dipper’s mourning, Bill put himself into a stasis to keep from draining power. He still had some left when he felt Dipper’s presence again. A small amount that let him pass through the barrier around the Shack, not need as much sleep, or food, and helped him heal quicker after the Boar Bear attacked the second time around. But Bill used the remaining amount of his power to give Dipper the good dream in which Mabel forgives him, and to help guard against future extreme nightmares. After that, he was completely human, susceptible to infections and extreme hunger and sleep deprivation just like any other.

And because he was completely human, every creature in the forest was free. He knew that, and tried to keep Dipper from going outside as much as possible to protect him. The barrier around the shack also helped guard against those creatures, but the town was free game. He knew that if he continued to be human, no one would be able to stop the creatures, people would die, and Dipper would be afraid. He thought it would be selfish if he stayed human instead of saving the town, so he had to trick Dipper into letting him downstairs.

He then explains why he was such a dick as a triangle. He went from human to brimming with the pure demonic energy of an evil chaos god. The power corrupts, and it reverted him back to his old self, desperately trying to destroy the memories of ever feeling love. He almost succeeded until Dipper started sobbing, and the little piece inside him that was still human gained the strength to fight through the power and turn human again.  
But, now that he’s human yet full of demon power, it psychically hurts to try and keep it all down and from creeping into his mind and he doesn’t know how long he can last. But first, he has something he needs to do.  
He stands up, helping Dipper to his feet and they both walk upstairs. He instructs Dipper to stay inside the barrier at all costs and walks outside. Dipper stands on the porch, just inside the barrier, to watch what Bill does.  
He stands in the yard, his human form begins to float upwards, and he becomes encased in blue flames. It’s obvious that he’s in pain but a huge shockwave radiates from where he floats. Loud screeching can be heard from town soon after. A large group of creatures, some which Dipper has never seen before, not even in the journals, rush back into the forest, terrified and pained.

After they all return to the forest, Bill falls, exhausted, from his place above the ground. Dipper shouts his name and runs out to see him. The blast had taken most of his energy, and Bill was once again back to being mostly human, but just as his human form expends energy slower, it regains it slowly as well. He projected he would be fine for a few days before it grew too strong for his body to handle.

Dipper brings him back into shack. They hug and kiss, crying again. Bill apologizes profusely over and over again. 

Dipper doesn’t want Bill to leave him, but Bill doesn’t want to end up getting him hurt again. They make a deal that whenever Bill feels his power returning and tearing his body apart, and his dick-like attitude rears its ugly head again, he would go out and try to use up his energy stores. But he would always come back home to Dipper, no matter what. 

Bill agrees, but notes that he’s still physically stuck in Gravity Falls.

Dipper doesn’t care. They laugh and hug and kiss.

Dipper jokes that maybe he could leave his other eye in tact again this time around, and that “bow ties aren’t in fashion right now” and he could try to wear more flannel instead. Bill agrees reluctantly, but only if Dipper promises that he’ll forgive him for anything he says or does in the future related to his power levels returning and messing with his mind.

Dipper agrees.

They confess their love for another one last time.

The end.

Now I’m wondering if maybe I should add an epilogue where the Stan’s come back and Dipper gives them a watered down version of what happened while they were gone that leaves them believing that Bill is reformed and that Dipper is an exceptionally capable monster hunter and so they admit that they’ve been having fun on their travels and found the secret to eternal life or something and that they robbed a space bank and have tons of money and decide to just give the Shack to Dipper and Bill forever so they never have to leave Gravity Falls. 

I like that, let’s say that’s the epilogue.

Now, the end.

 

~~~~  
Sorry if any parts of that got confusing, you can always comment if something wasn't clear and I'll do my best to clarify.

Now, for these notes.

I mentioned briefly that I wrote a make out scene that leads up to a sex scene (the sex scene itself is not written about) and resumes the morning after. This happens somewhere near the end of the pointlessly fluffy part of the story that I stopped writing right before. Now, while writing this Author's Note, I also started writing some of the emotional scene in which Bill betrays Dipper and berates him while in triangle form, and now that I have all these random little segments, I was thinking of making "another fic" and calling it A Missing Eye and A Bow Tie Drabbles or something like that. Now, I realize that instead of writing drabbles I could just finish the goddamn story but easy does it. Everything I have right now is over a year's worth of work. Maybe now that I have the outline laid out, YOU could write me some drabbles too. Just a suggestion.

I'll link the "new fic" in the bottom notes after I have that all squared away. Might take me a few minutes to get it all set up.

Thank you again, everyone, for your love and dedication to my story. I hope you'll stick with me and stay tuned for more updates. Maybe I'll eventually just randomly put all the pieces together and finish this fic. I have no clue what the future holds. If you can give me ideas for pointlessly fluffy material, I'll be happy to take it. Who knows though. I don't want to get your hopes up but I don't want to squash the idea of eventually continuing this.

Comment below for feedback! It's appreciated!

I'll see you in another life ; ) (Aka, the drabble fic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the link to the Drabbles. It's literally just called "A Missing Eye and A Bow Tie Drabbles"  
> Also you could just get on my user profile and look at my other works to find it, but have the link too for good measure.  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/8712898/chapters/19975015


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